Yugioh 5D's Terror Firma!
by Demon of RHS
Summary: War divided what is now New Domino and Sattelite. Five Years later, the Dark Signers rose and were vanquished by the Signers. Now, two years later, something is stirring... Alternate Universe btw.
1. Chapter 0: Prologue

**Chapter 0**: How the world goes round.

_Battle not with monsters lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you- Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche_

Murder. The act of taking lives with premeditation and purpose. Of course there are in the eyes of the powers that be (or were in this case) varying degrees of how and individual can extinguish a man but I find that kind of business pointless and unnecessary. Does it matter whether a man is strangled to death or butchered with a chainsaw? You have a corpse on your bloody hands and that's all that you can show for it, I admit the conditions of them would be different but it's like cars. They are in the end all the same except with aesthetic differences.. They all roll along and they all guzzle fuel. Same with dead men. They just sit there, they're souls evacuated via violence. It's a hideous and unholy act to everyone but the mad and the professionals' whose business it is to shun the mindset of horror at the act.

That's the common interpretation. There is no such thing as madness. If a madman were to call you mad you are likely to retort to his own mental conditioning. How can you be sure he feels the same when you name him? There are no mental plains of control, only different routes to which sense can be made by an individual, some more extreme or shallow than another person. That's the so called lame excused now what about the professionals? The soldiers and the hit men? Soldiers fight for a greater good, a purpose in which they see themselves pawns, pieces to be sacrificed in the pursuit of a tomorrow that their descendants can live in peacefully or prosperously. They are not shunned for dismissing the ease or possibly fun they achieve from their job as it is simply their job. They are paid with blood money for slaying in a national interest. No better than gladiators egged on by crowds eager for a beneficial result, they dirty their souls so others can stay clean. But do not the people who called for war have blood on their hands? Are their souls not dirtier for knowingly sending young men, boys, into a meat grinder? Yes, I think so. I know so.

Now we come to the contract killer. The man who willing admits to his employment and the apparently dark things he does. This kind of man sees life as cruel and that a Darwinian approach to the social strata is necessary for success, this therefore in their eyes condones their job. The weak for the strong. These kinds of people believe that the weak are there to be eliminated for the gain of others, like a small and potentially prosperous is snapped up by a corporate hunter in search of zero competition and X% profit. Their narrowness is their undoing. They commit themselves to a very limited point of success. Money gained and possibly pleasure from success. They are ruled by greed and need a system of hate and anger and envy in order to gain employment, goodwill reigns and the hit man dies out. So there we are. The soldier who sees himself as a tool for good and the hitman who sees only his own gain, both with their own sets of morality. Morality.

Out here in the pit I have learnt so much about the nature of killing and madness and above all else human nature. All peoples click to tune. They are programmed to see the world in a default shade and pick up cloned virtues from their interactions with others. The ability to distinguish good and evil, the sense of identity and ability to affiliate to a set of beliefs. All make up human nature. I have learnt much here. I have learnt the truth of good and evil for example.

He had thought me dead, I had been lying face down in but a rag after escaping the hellhole I had been trapped in. Covered in crap and ranking of filth I do not blame him for the assumption. He had kicked me a few times while I tried to grasp at the power to stand and defend myself from the foe. He had bent down and began to search me over for anything of value. He took my rags. Our country had lost everything. The most powerful nation on Earth had died and so had all its prestige, power and wealth. The abyss left behind coerced them to doing what no one who had faith in the American Dream believed would take place in this beautiful country. Of the 'free' and the 'brave'. Undressing the dead for rags. I don't know how but I found the resolve to get up as he strode off with his worthless booty. I ran to him and clubbed him down with a piece of rubble from the ruins of the bombed out town. He hadn't time to cry out in pain before he died. And that was the most bloody of my killings of the time.

The up closeness and the vividness of the sensations. The crunch of his skull and the crumple of his body. The spurt of blood and the dropping of all he had in his hands. The stopping of his chest. The stopping of his heart. I began to loot, just as he had done except that time I knew he was dead. I undressed him and left him naked in the dirt. I rummaged through his possessions and as I did so I pieced it together with all the other encounters of the war I had had. From the mind-bending pain to the relentless unyielding space of combat. To the squalid peace of where I had lived before to the roar for killing in the larger settlements that rose from people too cowardly to fight themselves. I had found the missing piece to my philosophical jigsaw. It was a letter from his mother in Houston. She was telling him how worried he was, how she hoped his foot sores were healing. How the cat had been run over the week before. How she felt after his best friend had been declared dead 2 days earlier. On the other side of the paper were his own jottings. A small tally headed up; Kills. A murderer who saw fit to take pleasure in his achievements.

Then it clicked. Not immediately but slowly. Good and Evil. What's Good? What Evil? There are no such things in this existence. The only truths are Actions and consequences. Choices made that have bearings on others. Categorising morality a pointless pursuit as in the end morality are just rules imposed by you. Why adhere to them? Authorities use your virtues and twist them to their own gain, spouting hypocritical shit as they go. Telling you to live free and say what you like but remember to not do this or that. Picturing themselves as 'civil' but willing to put men to death on the battlefield or in a prison in what they deem openly as 'uncivil'.

The only freedom one can possibly have is anarchy. Pure chaos. Pure destruction. Pure defiance of morality and inherited virtues and the lies of that life have meaning in the face of inevitable death. No cruelty, no murder, no war. Just actions and consequences. But why stop with myself? I could reshape the world. A wise man once said if an idea doesn't sound ridiculous at first it is doomed to fail. I agree and so I knew I had a chance of succeeding. The dogma of law, order and religion were age old but just a brittle as a snowflake; the only difference being peoples reluctance to touch. I had a target. I sought not to control but to dismantle. My weapons; fear and truth. My creed actions and consequences and the campaign to free mankind… with some spoils for me, after all do not all men seek power in all areas of their lives? That was one virtue I knew I could live with. And as my first act of unauthority; I forsook my name, my identity and my previous life. I crafted a mask, a mask of terror, liberation, freedom, madness or whatever else one wishes to see. I became anew person. I became an avatar for truth. I became myself, and the thing inside growled in delight…as I became an Alias.

_Brought to you by Blazer Dude and Demon of RHS_

_A Yugioh 5D's Fan fiction_

**Yugioh 5D's: Terror Firma**


	2. Chapter 1: Fury of the Storm

**Chapter 1**: Fury of the Storm

It was a rainy night in the city of New Domino; gangs were loose on the streets, Security sirens rang loud against the rain and thunder. In a dimmly lit alley two people were locked in a vicious fight as a ring of twenty or so other people surrounded them, preventing escape. "Tell me what I need to know!" a young man with blue-violet hair yelled as he grabbed onto the black leather clad neck of the other combatant. Both were dressed in leather biker clothes, the key differences were in the colors; the first guy was in a blue leather jacket that he kept completely unzipped displaying a black tank-top shirt. He wore ragged looking blue-jeans that were torn in some places. The other person was dressed completely in black leather.

"Heh-heh, if you want to be making demands of any of us, you're gonna have to beat me in a turbo duel, up for it whelp?" the second duelist retorted as he strode over to a Japanese style black motorcycle.

"Fine, if it'll get me my answers. I've already got a map of the city in my Runner. We'll start off from this alley, then make a giant circle around the city." the first duelist said as he mounted his white-dragon-shaped-chopper Duel Runner. Ever since the war between what is now the Satellite and New Domino City the name of the D-Wheel has varied between regions. With a roar of the engines, both duelists took off, a gang of twenty or so other duelists followed.

"Duel Mode Engaged. Autopilot activated. Speed World Active." The mechanical voice of the Duel Runner chimed as a purple aura ungulfed the surrounding area. (Blue Biker's LP: 4000) (Black Biker's LP: 4000)

"I'm goin' first, and I start by summoning Chaosrider Gustaph (4/1400/1500) in attack mode!" the black clad duelist announced as another roar joined those of the Runners. Riding on a red chopper between the duelists was a muscular green creature in red armor tha tcover his shoulders, chest, and legs. It had a polearm weapon in his right hand which he twirled with grim delight. "I set a card and end."

"My go! I draw! Now that I have two speed counters I can activate my Speed Spell-Angel Baton! This will let me draw two cards and then ditch one. Now I summon my Blizzard Dragon (4/1800/1000) also in attack mode!" a loud, unholy roar cut through the rain as a chill began to hang in the air. A dazzling blue dragon with a sparkling crest made of ice flew down and hung above its owner's Runner. It eyed the opposing duelist and his satanic biker minion with malice. "I also set a card and I'll have Blizzard Dragon attack Gustaph. Blizzard Gale!" the dragon screeched and released a furious blast of cold air that froze the rain instantly. The frozen shards flew straight into Gustaph causing it to spin out of control and crash in a firey explosion.

(Black Biker's LP: 3600)

"Heh-Heh, nice try! I activate my trap card Soul Rope! This'll let me pay one thousand life points to summon a level four monster from my deck and I choose my Diskblade Rider (4/1700/1500)!" a yellow rope shot from the black Runner into the fire and from it a deep demonic rumble sounded. In a furious explosion Gustaph reemerged, but he was different; his armor and motorcycle had turned blue and he now carried a bladed disk in both of his hands. His eyes burned with revenge, all of it was aimed at the Blizzard Dragon.

(Black Biker's LP: 2600)

"I set one more card and I'll use Blizzard Dragon's effect to freeze your new biker in place. Go Blizzard Dragon, Chains of the Northern Wind!" the blue biker exclaimed as his dragon released another blast of cold air that completely froze Diskblade Rider in his seat. The bike was now apparently moving on "autopilot".

"Damn kid, you're good, but I'm just a tad bit better. It's my go, and I set another card, next I activate my Speed Spell-Overdrive! This effect will now allow me to add Speed Counters to my total equal to the level of one of my monsters plus two, that means I'm now cruising at a sweet nine Speed Counters, catch ya later kid!" the biker duelist shouted as his Duel Runner began to speed ahead down the track. He pulled another card free from his hand a slid it into the Duel Runner. "Another face down, and it's your turn." a cold mist still hung in the air, and it was starting to affect the black clad duelist. He began to sneeze and ice began to form around the areas of his Duel Runner that weren't next to the engines. The rain itself changed too, it was now snowing. A freezing gale swept through the city. Diskblade Rider was then freed of his icy prison.

"My turn! Now I summon Hypothermic Dragon (4/1900/800) in attack mode! He has a devastating ability, each non Water or Ice attribute monster now gains one Frost Counter. The kicker to that is; any monster with a Frost Counter on it cannot attack, and after two draw phases any card that has a Frost Counter on it is destroyed! HAHAHAHA!" the blue biker cackled as a frost white, serpentine dragon with clear fangs, talons and set of jagged horns descended from the snowy sky. It made a noise like a whale song as it caught up to its owner. Diskblade Rider froze again while he was stretching his green muscles. "Blizzard Dragon, finish what you started, attack Diskblade Rider!" Blizzard Dragon reared back its head as a frozen sphere formed in its mouth. It launched the sphere in a glorious fashion; and when it struck, the two frozen bodies exploded flamelessly.

(Black Biker's LP: 2500)

"Shouldn't have attacked kid, my trap card Stalemate now makes us both take equal damage! So you'll feel the cold sting of battle!" a piece of Diskblade Rider's motorcycle flew back and hit the dragon head mounted on the blue biker's Runner, the duelist riding it flinched at the impact.

(Blue Biker's LP: 3900)

"I don't care what happens to me so long as I find out what I need to know, Hypothermic Dragon attacks you directly!" the serpentine dragon vanished into the snowstorm and reappeared next to his opponent's Runner, it shot the opposing duelist with a blast of icy wind that cut the duelist's face and hands.

(Black Biker's LP: 600)

"I now activate my next trap, Effect Copying Machine; this card will copy the effect of one of my other cards, I choose Stalemate. This means that you'll take a full thirty-eight-hundred points of damage!"

(Blue Biker's LP: 100)

"Fine, but I chain my own trap, Doppelganger; you take all those points in damage as well! This is the end!"

(Black Biker's LP: 0)

The black Duel Runner began to sputter and steam flew from a ventilation system in it. It melted all the ice that the duel left. After both Runners had slowed to a stop, the blue biker removed his helmet and dismounted; ice formed around his feet with every step.

"You! You're one of those people from that organization that was trying to raise an army of freaks! I know where I saw you from! You were hauled in by security under the charge of murder! You're Chaud Blaare!"

"Right-o! Now tell me," Chaud said as he reached down and pulled the shaking biker from the ground. "See this picture?! Where is the girl in this picture?!" the biker stammered, but never gave him an answer. Chaud shook him, a hungry glare in his eyes. "Huh?! Answer me!"

"Last time I saw her she was in the Middle District. That was two days ago. That's all I know, now please, let me live!" the pathetic biker pleaded. Chaud let him go and stalked back to his Duel Runner, with a screech of the engines he sped off toward his destination.

**Ten minutes earlier: Sattelite: Old Momentum Generator**

"Crow, this is Yusei, any clear path in?" a small speaker mounted upon a black Duel Runner spoke over the sound of the rain. An orange haired man, perhaps in his twenties, answered. He ran his fingers over a series of yellow marks on his face, feeling the grooves they left in his skin as he spoke. He shook his head in an attempt to dry it, but the rain was pounding down too hard for the action to have effect.

"I'm getting a small ventilation shaft on the roof. It looks too risky though, this building is too old. I mean let's face it; you're trying to break into the old Momentum generator plant. What could you possibly need from here that would need a full scale break in?" Crow looked up from the screen of his Duel Runner at the old Momentum generator plant. It was crumbling, but was still kept under high security, should anyone wander in they could be put in serious danger. The sole reason it wasn't destroyed years ago rests in the old Momentum generator, it's too big to move, but it can still be salvaged for scrap metal and spare parts; the only risks with it were in the fact that the Momentum generator was highly radioactive. If anyone were to go in they would need an entire HAS-MAT team to collect any of the metals.

"My father used to work here, I need to see if I can find any notes as to what may have happened here when it went up. Or perhaps why the Dark Signers were targeting this place, it all seems too fishy to me."

"Yeah-yeah, just remember, Security is going to crack down hard on us if we get caught so don't disturb too much. I'm picking up tons of motion detectors, looks like there may also be some pressure panels in the floors too so make sure you watch your step," Crow paused as he began to shiver, the weather had changed abruptly and the rain was now snow. "Also, hurry up, it just started snowing out here and it's really cold!"

"I'll only be a few minutes."

Yusei, a man who looked to be in his late teens to early twenties climbed into a lone metallic ventilation shaft on top of the crumbling building. He crawled around in the shaft until he found the main chamber, the generator room. The generator itelf was a rundown, broken machine. A faint glow resonated from it, as if it was still trying to generate Momentum; the power source for D-Wheels, homes, offices. Everything in both New Domino and the Sattelite ran off the stuff. Before the current Momentum generator was built this one released too much Momentum causing a great deal of damage, basically turning Sattelite into a ghetto; a place for all of those of the working class to live, squandering their talent by having to perform mundane tasks such as sorting garbage. The only sure way out was in a body bag.

"Crow, I'm headed in." he said into a small reciever attached to his ear. In the faint light of the Momentum generator his dark hair danced with flashes of blues and purples. At times the light would be pure white and make the security marker stand out quite prominently against his street worn features. He dusted off his jacket and produced a flashlight from a pocket in his black jeans. The little circle of light sweeped across the room until it landed on an overturned desk. Yusei checked it carefully, checking every drawer until he found a notebook labled Momentum Generator Log. It was dated to the exact week that the generator had gone up. He quickly opened it and began to scan the pages with increasing curiosity, that is until he found the last page. It read:

"Generator Log: Date: 4/30/2045

The core temperature has been fluctuating over the last couple of hours. Three power surges have occured in the last two hours. Director Goodwin has assured us that there is no problem and that the Momentum generator is going to have some hiccups. I'm worried though. It has reached near critical several times in the last couple of days. My only worry is," it was finished with a quick line, as if the writer was suddenly pulled away from the paper.

"Crow, I found something, I'm gonna bring it out. Yusei out." he spoke into the reciever.

**Two Hours later, New Domino. **

The snow had again become rain, and had matted down Chaud's hair. He had just gotten to the Middle District in the two hours he had been riding. House after house was filled with happy families; families he was forced to see because of speed limits in the residential area. He shivered and pulled his coat closer to his body. He peered into the window of a nearby house and saw who he had been looking for. He stopped his Runner abruptly and looked on. She had long, red violet hair; fragile violet eyes, and delicate facial features. She wore a red blouse that had long tails, black arm warmers, and black boots that come up to the middle of her thighs. She was sitting on a fluffy chair speaking with a woman who shared many of her facial features and a man with which she shared no tangible resemblance. Hatred and sadness began to burn in his eyes. Suddenly he rolled up his left sleeve, retrieved a small tube from his pocket, and shook it. He pulled off the end revealing a needle, and with a grim smirk he stuck the needle into his arm and injected himself with a strange clear liquid; a lightning strike illuminated his twisted face as the liquid began to flow in his veins. Without so much as a second thought he revved his engine and rode away from the place, dropping the syringe as he went.

"So Yusei, what'd you find?" Crow asked Yusei as they sat in front of a fire in Yusei's underground lair. Yusei pulled the notebook from his pocket and handed it to his friend. Crow read the pages carefully. "So, this notebook is dated up to the date of the Momentum generator exploding huh? Nevertheless, it should help us piece together at least why it went up." Crow sat the notebook next to a stack of other relics they found around the plant. Each one a piece in a grand puzzle that would help them figure out how the generator went up, why the Dark Signers targeted that place, and Yusei personally would finally find out more about his biological parents. All he knew was that his father had worked on the original generator and had died in the explosion. Yusei had found himself ever more curious about the Old Momentum after he along with his fellow Signers had vanquished the Dark Signers, and his curiousity was slowly becoming an undying obsession. He did however find solace with Akiza, a kindred spirit, but just a friend. He spent many a night with her complaining about their problems, laughing on some occasions. He felt he was her guardian after the fall of the Arcadia Movement. That was the only thing he was grateful for as far as the Dark Signers were ever concerned. In a way they freed her from her prison. He smiled at the thought.

There was one detail about the Arcadia Movement that he found out when he was looking through the ruins of the Old Momentum plant, a fact he wanted to make sure was never leaked; they had multinational branches and there were in total over ten thousand psychic duelists with varying abilities. If there was ever word of the enemy of Iliaster being as powerful as it is, it would mean certain doom for the Signers. He hoped that once the leader had been wiped out, the organization itself would completely crumble. He pushed this thought out of his mind as he began to scan the relics. None of the pieces fit yet, but he knew they would. Outside the storm had finally settled down, and was now a calm drizzle.

**End of Chapter 1. **

Hello, Demon of RHS here with a friendly reminder; this is an _alternate timeline _story. I by no means know what exactly goes on in the anime so don't flame. Thank you. Blazer Dude and I hope you'll continue to read and enjoy.


	3. Chapter 2: The Scout

_**Chapter 2: A Cocky Challenger**_

NOTE: this chapter along with prologue by Blazer Dude

Balthasar Clyde tightened his tie as the plane began to land. It had been a long trip and he was glad it was over; hopefully it would be the last time he would have to make it in a long while.

It was necessary for his current venture that these trips are made as he had needed to tie up the loose ends corresponding to his parentage and his right to run for the post he was now chasing.

He was average height and build with brown hair, that was almost ginger, sleeked back smartly. A blue suit and tie draped his form and white shirt giving him a strictly business air. His face was the most interesting feature. He had a slight beard and moustache in the same colours as his hair and his nose was crooked from being broken, possibly repeatedly, in the past and his grey eyes shone with inner emotion, a form of benevolence and acceptance that shouldn't have been there, considering his past experiences.

The plane was well furnished but minimalist in design. He wasn't yet a VIP so expenses were lowered...for the moment. As the plane skidded, rather ungracefully, to a stop he got himself and a breathed out, straightening his clothes as he made his way to the exit stairs. It was early morning but the airport was very busy all the time causing heavy noise which muffled his thoughts slightly. When he got there he was met by four men.

Three of them were what looked like bodyguards, black suits and shades, while the third looked like he had just escaped the circus. He was diminutive and wore a red cape like blazer and his face was akin to a clown. Not the sort of appearance he wished to emulate if he got his way with his plans.

"Mr Clyde, welcome back to the city, I hope you had a pleasant flight he-he." Squeaked the man rather slyly as he extended a hand which Clyde took rather reluctantly. He hated this man and his laugh and his mocking manner. He just wished he could put his hands round his little windpipe…

"Fine Mr Jaeger." Said Clyde calmly in an American accent that seemed to originate somewhere in the west. "Shall we?"

Jaeger was already walking away however and led the way to a car that shuttled the new American to his destination in the Tops residential area. As he sat in the back with his head looking out the window he reflected on his surroundings and his ambitions.

It was a bright but windy day in the city and the temperature gauge was showing normal temperatures. All in all it was all rather normal. Quiet. Stagnant. Oppressive.

"I'm here to change that." He mumbled quietly with a grin as he stroked his beard thoughtfully. "Rewrite the rule book as it were."

The driver dropped him off at his destination and in his abode he set about with his plans and his overall campaign to change the way this town worked and indeed looked at itself.

Yusei awoke early, as usual. He wasn't one to sleep in late after years of living in a slum where anyone could come in and nab your possessions while you 'caught some zees'. Besides he found it to the freshest time of the day, when the air tasted best and you could see through the smog in the more extreme areas most easily.

There was also always work to be done.

He leaned forward and stepped up off his dirty mattress. He was a small underground enclave he had found to base himself at while he and Crow began their search of the generator. He had been here two days and they had made good progress finding things in the generator and any evidence as to how or why it went up. Almost all how.

There was machinery, the odd computer stick and a few journals. One interested Yusei a great deal however. It was written by a Professor Hakase Fudo aka his father. Well, ex-father. Yusei stood up and walking past Crow who was dozing on the floor arrived at the old table where the things were resting. He picked up the tattered book and flicked through, it, A lot of pages were missing or burnt but there were some intact entries in which he detailed how the project was going and in some cases what he was up to or thinking.

There was one entry he had read numerous times already which he couldn't help reading again. He flicked to it and absorbed it again despite his near perfect recollection of it already.

"_Generator Log: Date: 4/16/2045_

_Things are moving smoothly here, the Prototype is warming up nicely and if we are lucky we can begin energy generation in a week or two, I had a hell of a time going over the figures for the Overseer Mainframe but I'm sure, I hope, I've seen the last of them. It's an honour to be part of this project but my mind keeps wandering back home. I haven't seen my wife or my son in months. I'm sure they're fine but that isn't what bothers me. It's just that I'm not there. I can't change Yusei's nappies or feed him or loose sleep at night over him. I've lost a god deal of the first year of my child's life here. My wife is angry and is right to be, I'm missing it and she may get other thoughts if I'm not careful. That I'm being unfaithful. Of course I'm not in the conventional sense but, in a way, I'm being unfaithful to my family just by working here, by albeit temporarily turning my back on them. Once I've done though we can get back to normal life and hopefully there will be a Nobel peace prize in my life by then. 2 weeks or so...I promise._

He closed the book and slipped it into his pocket and looked up through the hole in the ceiling toward the open sky. His thoughts his own as he put on his jacket and helmet as he prepared to go for a ride. Crow opened a stray eye as Yusei climbed the stairs to leave but thought better than to follow his lifelong friend. He could tell when he wanted to be alone and besides it wasn't as if there were any pressing matters as of yet…yet.

_**Meanwhile**_

Jun initiated the starting sequence on his D-Wheel and cannoned out of the garage in the ruins of his home. He had spent an hour configuring his bike for the encounter he was looking for and was eager to earn his pay.

He was used to odd jobs and requests so this seemed normal. Only difference was he had to modify his bike, temporarily, in order to fulfil the conditions of the 'contract'.

The Bike was not very streamlined and the yellow paintjob was scratched all over with signs of rust. On the front of the bike was a very out of place steel orb with a small flashing red light. Another two were on the sides and one more at the back.

He shot down the street, almost hitting two pedestrians as he pressed a few buttons lazily on his onboard computer to bring up his target and the info of the job. It wasn't easy but neither was life on Satellite. The morning haze and smog, smelling of half burnt industrial crap that clogged the lungs and burnt the eyes, was beginning to fall down as the industrial plants began to turn on and the antiquated petrol fuelled vehicles began to move as noisily as ever. The wind however was still a comfort, amplified a few times by his speed.

"I will escape this pit." The rider spat as he rode, glaring at the derelict warzone-esque architecture and the distant and ugly factories. "Even if I have to completely destroy you, of all people, Yusei Fudo."

The picture of one of the most famed Satellite duellists flashing on his screen as well as his current location. He was surprised when his benefactor told him he could get him this at anytime anywhere but his benefactor was a very powerful man…or so he imagined. He hadn't a clue to who he was. Just that he used, in his words, a pseudonym.

Yusei pulled up at his spot. He removed his helmet and breathed in heavily the last of the fresh air that the island could grant him and looked out over the vast expanse of the bay toward the city where he had found his fortunes, the heavy wind billowing in his hair.

When he had lived here a few years a go he came to this spot almost every other day to just look. To ponder what would happen when he met Jack again and how he would reclaim Stardust.

Yusei narrowed his eyes slightly. Strangely he had never actually thought about what would happen afterwards. How he would return without being captured, how he would escape if he was captured, most of all how he would survive.

He had though and he lived in the present not the past, so reflecting was not what he did…despite the fact he couldn't get that journal out of his head. He breathed out and took the book out and just stared at the cover sternly before replacing it.

As he stared out over the water he heard the familiar noise of a D-Wheel engine. He turned round and saw climbing the ramp to the top floor of the old warehouse where he was now a yellow D-Wheel. He narrowed his eyes as it pulled up around 20ft away from him. The rider was rotund but not in a way that made it look like he was fat. I looked more like muscle that rippled under his black biker suit. A yellow helmet sat on his head which now removed to show a man was stereotypical thug, buzzed hair, gold tooth full works. He raised a hand and pointed at the Duel King.

"Yusei Fudo." He said in a surprisingly soft voice. "I challenge you to a Riding Duel."

Yusei narrowed his eyes. The guy chuckled.

"They told me you weren't a talker." He smirked. "Maybe I can loosen your tongue and get you to at least cry out in pain."

"Who are you?" Asked Yusei suspiciously. "How'd you find me?"

"I'm Jun." He fitted his helmet back on. "And I don't want to tell you how I found you so lets just say you can't hide anywhere. So, you want to play ball?"

Yusei stared at him hard, tossing his thoughts over before turning away. "No."

"_Too Bad."_ Thought Jun as he got out of his D-Wheel and from a compartment in his bike grabbed a wired device and tossed at the red bike opposite. A manacle clamped onto the Duel disk now imbedded on the wheel, fixing it to the wire. Yusei turned and glared, witnessing the challenger fix the other end to his own duel disk.

"Those manacles." Sighed Yusei in a frustrated tone as he realised that losing or rejecting the duel now would mean losing his duel disk and deck via a piece of explosive in the manacles. Machines of his own design back when he had been trapped on Satellite. "Fine, I'll duel you."

He walked over and released his duel disk from its holder and clamped it onto his arm as Jun laughed at the turnaround. As he did this he slipped a hand into his pocket and pressed a small remote. This caused the orbs on his bike to activate, the red light on them now blue, unnoticed to Yusei.

Yusei: 4000

Jun: 4000

As Yusei drew his first 5 cards he saw something happen however. His LP Counter flickered violently and flashed on and off before settling again as if nothing had happened. He looked hard at the disk with a feeling of grim before looking up and drawing his sixth card without as much as a word to his opponent.

"I summon Bolt Hedgehog (2/800/800) in defence position." He summoned the monster and a small mousy creature with many steel bolts sticking out of it where quills should have been scuttled into play, changing to a dark blue colour to signify its defensive operandi. He the silently set a facedown card and ended his turn, allowing Jun to snap a card from his duel disk violently. He chuckled at his hand.

"_I may not have to win, but who wouldn't pass up an opportunity to crush Yusei Fudo." _He thought to himself as he began his move. "I activate two spell cards; Goblin Thief! This spell lowers your lifepoints by 500 and increases mine by that amount. Since I've got two that doubles"

He grinned as his LP counter increased by said amount and Yusei's fell.

Jun: 4500

Yusei: 3500

"Next I'll summon Goblin Attack Force (4/2300/0)." A group of eight green goblins with clubs and primitive armour trod forth with very little organization, grunting, squealing and belching with each other. "Now attack Goblins!"

The goblin leader pointed at the rodent on Yusei's field and the horde roared in delight before clubbing it to death savagely. As they returned to their side of the field they sat down, apparently tired from their battle. The goblins turned blue signifying they had changed position.

"My Goblins change mode after they attack and can't be changed until next turn." Explained Jun as he set 2 cards facedown behind his goblin force. "End turn."

Yusei drew a card from his deck and it happened again. His LP counter fluctuated except this time so did the holograms of Jun and his field before settling again.

"What was that?" demanded Yusei to which Jun laughed.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Yusei looked back at his hand, reasoning his opponent knew but wouldn't talk. He looked at Juns set card.

"_Attack Force has no chance of surviving an attack on its own so that cards got to protect it somehow. I can risk waiting until next turn but its high attack power will be a problem if I do. I'll attack."_ He thought to himself as he picked out his next play. "I activate One for One!"

The card appeared on his field and shone.

"By discarding a monster I can special summon a level one monster in turn from my hand." He executed the process as he explained. "Special Summon; Road Runner (1/300/300)."

A small Pink bird monster in red galoshes burst into play, chirping in what was meant to be an intimidating manner before taking its place in attack mode. Yusei continued.

"Activate trap card! Angel Lift!" the set card on his field flipped up showing a skeleton being dragged from its grave by a heavenly being, this being flew onto the field and flew straight down through the ground, disappearing. "This card special summons a level two or lower monster in my grave into attack mode. I choose Speed Warrior (2/900/300)."

The armoured and sleek grey warrior was then dragged from underground onto the field with gratitude to the angel which had reappeared from its cemetery search.

"Now I normal summon Road Synchron (4/1600/800) in attack mode." His third monster was yellow armoured with orb like shoulders and large wide tires for legs. Yusei flicked another monster card round in his hand to show Jun. "One-Shot Booster (1/0/0) is now special summoned from my hand as I normal summoned. Finally I use Bolt Hedgehogs effect. As a Tuner is in play I can now special summon it from the cemetery."

A jet like platform in yellow paint flew onto the field, a small panel at the back functioning as a sort of robotic face as well as the familiar rodent which had dug out of the ground representing a monster zone. Jun looked at Yusei, impressed with his opponent. A loom of fortitude and resolve was in his eyes which glared down at Jun, backed by fierce ability and natural talent.

"So this is the duel Kings power?" mumbled Jun at Yusei's summoning blitz and knowing a duel king, he wasn't done. He could retaliate however.

"Activate trap card! Just Deserts!" Juns card flipped. "This card does 500 points of damage to you for ever monster you control so you loose 2500!"

A ghostly hand emerged from the card and wrapped its fingers tightly and painfully round Yusei's head. He clenched his teeth and closed his eyes to block out the assault. Uttering a groan at the pain. When he recovered however he just continued with his move as if nothing had happened.

Jun: 5000

Yusei: 500

"Road Synchron effects activate!" He lashed a hand out at his Tuner which glowed brightly. "I tune it to Road Runner, Bolt Hedgehog and One-Shot Booster to Synchro summon a level eight card!"

The named cards dissipated into glowing stars and clashed together high above the windy playing field, a bright light enshrining the field briefly before the product of the summon was revealed, landing on its steel feet with a mighty crash.

"Synchro Summon; Road Warrior (8/3000/1500)!" Cried Yusei as a futuristic armoured blue and gold like metal plated warrior stood upward with a yell of pride. Its head crowned with a spiked helmet and staring glass placed a card in his jacket pocket. "Bolt Hedgehog by the ay is removed from play via its effect after it leaves the field once special summoning itself. Road warrior's effect! I can once per turn special summon a level two or lower warrior or machine from my deck!"

He unfurled his deck and picked a monster. "Massive Warrior (2/600/1200)."

A great stone juggernaut stomped out after materializing. It was four footed and had four arms surrounding its grimacing head of sorts. It was clutching above itself, almost defiantly, a stone helicopter platform. Yusei then began his offensive.

"Massive Warrior attack Goblin Attack Force!" The goliath walked forward slowly with thundering steps which caught the goblins attention. It was too late however as a huge foot found its way on top of them. Yusei continued by pointing at Speed Warrior.

"Attack!" As the warrior ran forward its attack double to 1800. "Its effect lets it's double its attack points the turn it is summoned when it attacks." Explained Yusei.

Before the hit landed however Juns facedown flipped. It showed Zombrya of the Dark striking a dramatic pose.

"A Hero Emerges." Muttered Yusei.

"That's right. Pick a card in my hand, if it's a monster I can special summons, luckily I only have one card and it's a monster so no choice required." Explained Jun he flipped it round to reveal a monster card.

"I special summon Goblin Recon Squad (4/1700/0) in defence mode." 3 high tech equipped goblins appeared in a flash of light, scanning the field for attackers but missing the renewed attack of Speed warrior which took them down via a fast moving spinning kick. Saving Jun from the damage however.

"Road warrior! Direct attack!" Ordered Yusei with a fist clenched. The Warrior Shot forward and punched with great force all aimed at Juns screaming face. It knocked him back a good 9ft and caused him to fall down.

Jun: 2000

Yusei: 500

"Turn end." Declared Yusei confidently.

Jun pulled himself up with a chuckle he muttered. "Good Job, lucky I don't have to win here."

He spat a bit of blood out of his mouth and drew his next card.

"I set a facedown card and end my turn." He groaned in a disappointed manner as the card appeared and Yusei drew. Once again the flickering happened but this time something else happened which caught his attention. His dragon Birthmark lit up in its usual crimson show, not for long but it did cause a throbbing pain in his arm which caused him to grab it tightly. He glanced at Jun who didn't seem to have noticed the event.

"What is going on?" He thought. "_What caused that? What's this guy doing?"_

Yusei pointed at Road Warrior, silently as he was still contemplating the scenario, again and the monster charged forward. Jun activated his new facedown card.

"Negate Attack." The cards effect stopped all his attacks and ended the battle phase so Yusei was done for the moment.

Yusei said. "Turn end."

His only card in his hand now facedown. The holographic representative appeared in front of him.

Jun rolled his shoulders and drew his next card, eyeing Yusei before even looking at his newest card. His eyes quickly flicked to his D-Wheel and the metal flashing orbs. With satisfaction he looked down at his newest card and nodded.

"Activate spell card; Staring Down the Odds!" The card materialized on his field and its art showed a man standing bravely with a rake raised above his head, in front of his farm, while an army of raiders charged at him wielding cruel looking blades and crossbows. "Staring Down the Odds allows me to draw cards for every monster you control as long as I have less than you. This means I gain three." He drew his cards and with a grin he began his manoeuvre.

"I can still win this it seems!" He chuckled as his monster appeared. A group of 4 goblins with various pieces of equipment, I say equipment, like drums and trumpets and rattles which they shook loudly. An annoying effect being the result. "Goblin Diversion Force (4/1000/0). Now I activate Nightmare Steel Cage!"

As the card was played a cage suddenly built itself up around Yusei and his entire field, he didn't flinch however and patiently waited for Juns next play.

"_That card, it stops me attacking for two turns_." He thought as the cage had sprung around him.

Jun continued by pointing at Speed Warrior. "Attack Speed Warrior Goblins!"

Yusei frowned. He hadn't taken the bait of Massive Warrior. It may have been weaker but he must have known he couldn't take damage from it being in battle and that once per turn it could avoid destruction. Regardless the goblins began making a terrible noise with their 'instruments' directed at Speed Warrior. After a while they stopped, rubbing tired arms and huffing with tired lungs. Speed Warrior still standing. One goblin growled angrily and picked up a small stone. It tossed it at the warrior and it hit it on the head, knocking it to the floor. The goblins cheered.

Jun: 2000

Yusei: 500

"When I destroy a monster with these goblins I draw a card!" he explained as one of the fiends picked a card off the top of his deck and handed it to him happily. Jun was happy as well seeing it

The crew turned blue and sat down, tuning their instruments and equipment. Jun smirked at Yusei. "I set a card and activate the magic card Necromancy!"

As he played the card the ground churned on Yusei's field causing him to look down slightly. From the ground arose the forms of One-Shot Booster, Speed Warrior and Road Runner in defence mode, filling his monster zones. "This card special summons 4 random monsters in your grave in defence mode, when one is destroyed all the monsters present before they were summoned loose 600 attack points , also the special summoned monsters cannot change position unless by another card effect. I set a card and end my turn. Take yours and get ready to loose Yusei Fudo!" He boasted loudly, thumping his chest with a meaty hand.

Yusei looked down as did Jun at his set card.

"_Labyrinth of Nightmare. My continuous trap changes the position of all monsters a player controls when they end their turn. I can use it to change all his weak monsters to attack mode and then when I get to my turn I can attack One shot Booster to win, no fear of Road Warrior because his effect can't activate due to the full field and he can't attack cos of the steel cage, and if that isn't enough he only has a one card hand and I'm sure he's packing nothing with that set card!" _he smirked as Yusei slowly drew his next card. Yusei flipped it round and looked at it with a small smile; nevertheless he activated his Labyrinth trap card and explained the effect quickly. Yusei didn't even blink.

"How can you be so confident!?" Cried Jun in exasperation which was ignored.

"Activate Advance Draw! I sacrifice a level 8 monster, Road Warrior, to draw 2 cards!" Road Warrior dissipated into light and he did just that. "Activate spell card; Tuning. I pick a tuner in my deck and add it to my hand."

He flicked open his deck again and selected a card. He then took two cards off the top of his deck and placed them in his grave slot. "I send cards equal to the monsters level to the graveyard. Now I summon Nitro Synchron (2/300/100)."

A small cartoonish gas tank with arms and a face popped forth, squeaking in what was meant to be an intimidating manner.

"Now I tune Massive Warrior, Speed Warrior and One-Shot Booster to my card for a level seven summon." The said cards turned to stars and flew upward like before leaving Road Runner temporarily alone. A flash resonated and Yusei named his Synchro.

"Summon! Nitro warrior (7/2800/1800)!" A Minotaur like green and black monster stood proudly on his field roaring in delight at being summoned, or set loose. He then drew a card from his deck. "When Nitro Synchron is used to synchro a Nitro monster I can draw a card. Activate equip spell card; Junk Attack!" A flaming aura surrounded the Minotaur. "When Nitro Warrior destroys a monster you take half of its attack as damage now and that's not all. When Nitro Warrior is in play and I play a magic card I can increase his attack by 1000 in the damage step."

"That's pointless!" Exclaimed Jun. "You can't attack!"

Yusei ignored him again. "Activate magic card; Restrain release!"

It hit Jun like a freight train. "Not that card!"

"Restrain release sends one equip card I control to the grave and in exchange all spells and traps you control are destroyed!" As he said this nitro Warrior pulled itself into a foetal position and with a growl that slowly turned into a roar burst outwards, expelling the aura straight at Juns field. Annihilating Steel Cage and the labyrinth of Nightmares. The goblin squad quivered and babbled in lifted a hand and pointed at the goblins which Nitro Warrior dispatched in a rather brutal fashion. Yusei then ended his turn. Jun looked at his deck forlornly. He drew.

"I summon Goblin Recon Force (4/1700/0)" the high tech fiends returned and drew small laser-pointer hand guns. "Attack nitro Warrior."

Yusei realized his opponent had accepted his fate. The goblins fired at the thick hide of the Minotaur to no avail as the bullets bounced back into their heads rather comically.

Jun: 1000

Yusei: 500

"End turn." Jun huffed and tensed for the finishing blow. "Get it over with."

Yusei drew and the effect that had plagued the field happened again, his birthmark also flashed up and the pain doubled in intensity from before. He grabbed it and gritted his teeth hard. It was like his arm was falling apart. Jun had his eyes closed and was readying for Nitro Warrior so he had no knowledge of it. Yusei breathed out in relief as the effects stopped. That would definitely be in his conversation with Jun. He drew and declared the direct, and finishing, attack of Nitro Warrior who blew Jun away and felled him like a log. Game, Set and Match.

Yusei: 500

Jun: 0

The manacle beeped and loosened on his duel disk so he shook it off, Juns exploded in a flash of smoke, scorching the dazed and downed thug. He pulled himself up slightly and Yusei strode over and yanked him up by the collar.

"How did you find me?" He demanded toughly. Silence. "Tell me how you found me!"

"I don't know…" Spluttered Jun weakly. "This guy sent me a computer file and said he could track you, said all I had to do was duel for at least 3 turns. I'm starving I had to do the job and no one got hurt right?"

Yusei narrowed his eyes. "Who sent you?"

"No idea."

Yusei raised a fist threateningly and he spoke again quickly. "I swear, I get a letter with a number and I call see and he tells me about a job, I ask his name and he says he uses a pseudonym. That's it! I get the rest in an e-mail the next day with a file and that's it! Please don't hurt me, I'm sorry Duel King I-"

Yusei threw him down and returned to his D-Wheel and departed without peaking, leaving him alone and with a bloody nose. As he rode he stared at his arm.

"_What was that? That guy didn't know what he was doing, I'm sure_." He looked to his left as late morning began to set far away in the city. "_How could he know where ever I am? He must have been lying. Only they can..."_

And then it hit him. He blinked in disbelief a few times before accepting it. He had hacked their mainframe dozens of times; theoretically it was possible just discomforting that someone could have that level of knowledge over the people here, everyone in satellite at least. He raised a hand up from the accelerator and stroked the marker on his face. Feeling the slight bump as it protruded from his skin, he rode on faster. Tomorrow he was going back to the city with Crow and they would find who had control of the Marker Tracking system.

The next morning as Jun woke up he found a letter on his doorstep with a package. The letter told him he had erased the mainframe on his D-heel so it was useless and he had collected the steel orbs in the night. At first Jun was pissed but then the note told him he was being paid handsomely and he hoped he could enjoy it while he could. The package contained over four 100 credits. He grinned and with a happy laugh went out to buy some happiness.

A few days later several people, including Jun, were admitted to hospital. The event made the headlines as many were shopkeepers and bankers and such. The police didn't have a clue as to the exact details except they had found heavily irradiated credit notes in the shop keeper's possession and that they all had serious radiation sickness.

None survived and fear and paranoia spread on Satellite.


	4. Chapter 3: Pursuit and Capture

**Chapter 3:** Pursuit and Capture

"Excuse me, miss." Chaud tried to say nonchalantly as he approached the young woman from his picture. He was stopping by a local market place to get supplies; food, drink, laundry needed done, the usual. 'Okay, you can do this. Just tell her. _Hi, you may not know me, but I... oh that'll never work. _What should I say!!' he thought.

"Yes." she turned back and looked at Chaud with her big violet eyes. He felt awkward looking into them. They were very similar to his own eyes. He sensed hurt, betrayal, redemption, happiness and sadness all at the same time.

"Er- Uh... Have you seen a little boy running around here? He's about ye tall," Chaud held his hand up to his waist indicating a height. "Looks like me a little bit, he has much lighter colored hair though. Please, it's urgent, he's my...little brother and Mom would be furious if I lost him." Chaud lied.

"No, I'm sorry. I haven't seen any little kids that fit that description." she replied.

"Oh, well thanks anyway..." Chaud stopped, not knowing her name.

"Akiza." Akiza smiled.

"Yes, thank you Akiza. My name's Chaud..." he started, but he trailed off. He was a murderer, and as far as that was concerned he didn't want to be hauled off again for typical civilian paranoia.

"See ya around sometime?" she asked. "Like when you're not chasing down children?"

"Yeah, sure!" Chaud grinned. He turned on his heel and began to pick through the growing crowd. He looked back one last time to perhaps catch a glimpse of her face. In that moment he ran into a security officer. He jumped back a foot and looked the officer in the eye. On instinct he took off, shoving people out of the way, yelling apologies as he ran. He rounded a corner and saw his Duel Runner in sight, before he was even half the distance to it he was tackled, cuffed and being shoved into the back of a waiting Security Cruiser.

**30 minutes later, at the security office...**

Chaud was just sitting there, tied to a chair. He told the officer already that he hadn't done anything. The officer was currently looking over his files, checking for parents, guardians, blood types, the things the police normally check for.

"I came as soon as I got the call officer." a thick, shaky voice said from somewhere behind Chaud. He turned his head to see one a man in a pintriped suit enter the doorway behind him. He had thinning black hair that was combed to the side, a pale face that appeared to have been cut several times over the years, and a crooked smile. He sttod behind Chaud and put his hands on the boy's shoulders.

"Blackthorn, whatcha doin' here? You haven't been called in since well two years ago." Chaud asked smuggly.

"I'm savin' yer ass kid, now sit there and shut up." Blackthorn muttered so only Chaud could hear. "I'm Mister Blaare's lawyer. Now I understand you've brought him in with no charges, that correct officer?" he asked, drumming his fingers on his black leather briefcase impatently.

"We brought him in under suspicion." the officer replied casually.

"Well you certainly should've found something by now right?" Blackthorn shot back.

"No sir, no we have not." the officer emphasized every word.

"So you're holding my client without any charges? Also, did you perhaps read him his rights?" Blackthorn asked. The officer swallowed hard, knowing he forgot something. "I could put you out of practice right now." he continued.

"Well I don't see anything coming up here, the boy's free to go." the officer said hurriedly as he released Chaud from the restraints in the chair. Blackthorn grabbed Chaud's arm and steered him to the door. He didn't speak until after the door was closed.

"You've got some nerve kid, running around here drawing attention to yourself. You're lucky I caught him on those two little things. By the way, Bass said to give you this." searching around in his briefcase Blackthorn procured a long silver tube. Chaud took it, made sure the security seal wasn't broken, then slipped the canister into his pocket.

"Thanks Blackthorn, though I never meant to get caught by Security, I was looking for her again and I just sort of ran into him." Chaud replied as if nothing happened.

"Well be more careful next time, I can't be called in everytime you or one of you other freaks gets hauled in by security. Pft! Seems like all you little brats do is cause trouble with your powers." he snorted as he pulled a cigar out of his briefcase. He lit the end of it until it caught and began to smoke.

"Eh, not all of us. Some of us just want to lead normal lives. But that can't happen seen as how you guys always seem to show up after we get these!" Chaud said agitatedly as he gestured to the symmetrical yellow marks under his eyes and along the ridge his jaw. The marks themselves were a simple line along his jaw line and two triangles that pointed downwards starting on his lower eyelids and moved down to about halfway down his face.

"Those are tracking marks? I thought you just wore guy-liner." Blackthorn laughed.

"Yeah, hahahaha, laugh at the little psychic boy. Look man, I just want to track down Akiza again and put all this crap out in the open. You gonna help me or not?" replied Chaud.

"I'd like to but..." a little mechanical beeping in his pocket cut him off. "I gotta go, good luck with looking for that girl." Blackthorn nodded and then hurried off down a different corridor. Chaud continued on his way until he found the exit then marched off into fading afternoon light. He was about to mount his Duel Runner when a high speed pursuit rushed past. Rather then just sit it out he took off after the perp along side the cop.

**Izinski Residence, Middle District, 5:30 PM**

"So Akiza, here's what we've found so far. Got any insight as to what this all is?" Yusei posed as he placed a messy pile of papers and other assorted relics from his expeditions onto the table in front of the girl who appeared just as clueless as the other two guys. Jack had joined Yusei for this particular leg of research.

"Nothing, it all just seems like old files nothing really worth... Hey! What's this?" inquired Akiza as her hand slid through the papers, when she lifted her hand back up it contained an old looking flash drive.

"Oh! I found that plugged in to one of the old computers. I don't have a computer to use it with so I was kind of wondering if we could use your computer to check it." Yusei responded. Akiza nodded. At that moment a loud crash rang out from outside.

**Middle District, 20 minutes earlier**

Chaud rode almost alongside the cop as the two chased after the third person. A short thirty seconds later the cop forced the activation of Speed World, dragging Chaud and the perp into a duel. "Damn it kid, surrender! This is between me and him!" the officer yelled.

"No can do, sir. I got dragged into this same as him. I'm seeing it though!" Chaud called back.

"Forced Activation, Speed World Active. Please choose pilot setting..." the mechanical voice sounded. All three duelists made their selections, Chaud picked Manual-Pilot, he knew the perp would choose it as well. He also knew the cop would pick Pursuit-Auto-Pilot not wanting to risk crashing.

"Duel!" all three shouted at the same time.

(Officer's LP: 4000)(Chaud's LP: 4000)(Perp's LP: 4000)

"I'm going first!" Chaud heard the perp yell from the front of the pursuit. Beneath the visor of his helmet, he couldn't tell what the Duel Runner, nor the duelist looked like. He did however notice a European accent, perhaps German. "I summon Assault Mercenary (4/1800/300) in attack mode!" he yelled. An anthropomorphic wolf warped from the card image onto the field. I held a futuristic blaster in its hand which it shouldered with a smirk. The officer chuckled next to Chaud.

"What's so funny?" Chaud yelled over.

"I'm bringing him in on charges of assault..." the officer began to laugh. His tone then changed to a disgruntled grumble. "Of course, I'm out here doing leg work while I should be cleaning up the conference center. Big explosions and I have to miss out..."

"That's not exactly funny, sir." Chaud shook his head.

"If you two are done jawin' I'd like to end my turn. One facedown, you with the choppa, go!" the perp yelled back.

"If you insist, my go!" Chaud yelled as he pulled a card from its holster. "I'll activate my Speed Spell-Cold Snap; this'll let me summon an extra monster for every monster my selected opponent has, and I'll choose the assault field. Now I can summon Blizzard Dragon (4/1800/1000) and Hypothermic Dragon (4/1900/800) both in attack mode!" from the heavens the dragons descended, dancing about each other in a beautiful and fierce display. They roared in unison, making the air itself seem to shake. "One down, go officer." Chaud ended as a giant facedown card appeared in front of him.

"Finally, my turn. I'll set two cards, next I'll send my three level eight monsters to the graveyard to summon Montage Dragon (8/?/0)!" a vortex tore open above the three duelists, from it three giant dragon heads emerged, followed by an enormous purple body. It made the other monsters shy away nervously when it appeared. "Now for his effect; he gains three hundred for each level star on the monsters I sent, that's twenty-four-hundred each bringing him up to seventy-two-hundred! (8/7200/0) It left my hand empty, but it's well worth it! Attack Assault Mercenary!" the officer yelled. The three heads reared back, then thrust forward in the same fashion as a snake striking. The Mercenary just stood and faced the gaping mouths.

"Ha! Mirror Force! It'll destroy all of the other attack mode monsters!" a shining barrier appeared between Assault Mercenary and Montage Dragon. One head bounced back on itself while the other went towards Chaud's monsters. All three exploded as the bodies collided.

"I activate Time Machine! This'll bring back our monsters like nothing happened!" Chaud called out as the dragons reappeared. "Unfortunately, the officer can't attack, sorry."

"Erg, fine! My turn! I summon Rose, Warrior of Revenge (4/1600/600)! That's not it by a long shot though, I'm tuning her and Mercenary together to form Colossal Fighter (2800/1000)!" Rose dissolved into green rings which enveloped Mercenary. His form began to change, becoming bulkier, larger, stronger. When the light faded a massive golem was floating above the perp's Runner. It had white armor with blue lights on it and it wore a green visor to cover its eyes. "Next I activate my Speed Spell-Spirit of the Fallen this will send all monsters of the given type to the graveyard from the decks. So both of you send all of your Warriors to the graveyard!" the perp demanded. Chaud's deck expelled no cards, but the officer lost every monster in both his extra deck and regular deck. The perp lost all of his monsters too. "Hehehe, now Fighter gains all of those dead warriors as attack points, one hundred per. I count thirty-four in mine plus the thirty-two in your 'yard. (9400/1000) Now attack Montage!" the perp yelled. Colossal Fighter jumped toward the giant dragon. With a thunderous crash the fighter punched the dragon in the chest, smashing ribs and ultimately causing the monster's death. With a final roar, the dragon exploded. A hologram of a card appeared in front of the per's Runner

(Officer's LP: 1800)

"How could you have packed a whole pursuit deck with only warrior types!?" Chaud yelled as he drew his next card.

"I wasn't exactly planning on this kind of situation!" the officer yelled back.

"Whatever man, my go! Oh and by the way, you may want to start heating your Runner. Just a feeling." Chaud suggested, knowing his abilities were starting to affect the field. "I Tune together my Hypothermic Dragon and Blizzard Dragon to summon Frozen Dragon-Cryofang (8/3000/2100)!" in a similar fashion to Rose, Hypothermic Dragon dissolved into snow. The snow enshrouded Blizzard Dragon, blocking all possible view of it. A moment later a much larger dragon's head appeared. It had glowing white eyes, blue scales that glinted slightly and a frozen mane that ran down its back. It opened its monstrous wings, flinging away the snow. Its body was easily three hundred feet long, a true behemoth. "I'll chain to the summon with the trap card Permafrost, now I can place Frost Counters on all monsters on the field if they are not Ice or Water Attributed." Colossal Fighter was frozen in place. "Now for Cryofang's effect, it can destroy all cards on the field that have Frost Counters on them." Cryofang roared ferociously, a card flipped around before its target disappeared.

"Assault Mode Activate!" the perp yelled. Colossal's armor fell off and shattered, leaving him with blue armor covering his chest, arms, and his entire lower half. A pair of mechanical wings extended from a jet pack on its back. "Meet my most powerful creature, Colossal Fighter/Assault Mode (10/3300/1500)! He doesn't get stronger with monsters in the graveyard, instead, your monsters get weaker. He now reduces your monster's attack points to zero!" the perp yelled.

"Hehe, looks like it's my turn to shine, I activate Reverse Trap! You two should both know what this does, turns all decreases into increases and vice versa." the officer cackled.

"Woohoo! Cryofang now jumps to sixty-four hundred! Attack Colossal Fighter/Assault Mode!" Chaud ordered. Cryofang scooped up the Fighter in its jaws and cruched down. Blood and mechanical parts rained down on the three duelists. All three lost control for a moment as they dodged the shrapnal. For seemingly no reason, Colossal Fighter pre-Assault Mode Activate reappeared on the field with its original 9400 attack points. Chaud then remembered that Assault Modes brought back the card that they transformed from when they're destroyed.

(Perp's LP: 900)

Chaud's ability then took hold and instantly froze the ground beneath the three Runners. All three lost control for a moment as they tried to regain traction. Chaud, sensing the danger, pulled the canister out of his pocket. He opened it quickly while maintaining some control. He pulled one of his syringes from the canister and eyed it grimly. He wanted to see this duel through but he had to stop his ability from hurting either of the other duelists. With a grimace he surrendered the duel, rolled up his sleeve and jabbed the needle into his arm, releasing a wave of complete and total relaxation. All of his muscles relaxed as his Runner spun out of control. When the effect wore off he was able to see a wall closing in on him rapidly. He hit it broadside, then he saw nothing, just empty blackness.

**Izinski Residence, 6:30 PM**

Chaud opened his eyes slowly, praying he wasn't back in the facilities. When everything came into focus he saw three people, possibly in their late teens or early twenties. Akiza was among them. The other two were some blond haired man in a white jacket, and a dark haired guy with a black leather jacket and tight black jeans. The other guy also had a tracking mark, a crooked line going down his cheek with a small triangle just beneath his eye. The man in the jacket had earrings that were shaped like letter A's and his hair was wrapped where it went down over his face. He was the first to speak.

"So, who are you?" his voice was rough. Chaud went to sit up and start an arguement, but before he could get up Akiza pushed him back down.

"Who the hell wants to know?" Chaud spat back. The dark haired boy advanced, jabbing a finger at Chaud.

"You're in no position to be making demands. We just saved your life. Don't see why we did though, considering we were mortal enemies."

"Yusei! That's no way to talk to him, you don't know if he was involved with them or not!" Akiza defended.

"Mortal enemies? That's impossible! You guys can't be!" Chaud shouted brokenly. His eyes opened in horror as the three rolled up their sleeves. Each one had a mark on their arm. Akiza's looked like a claw, Yusei's looked like a grinning face or perhaps the end of a dragon tail, and the blond haired guy's looked like a pair of wings. Chaud slowly started to crawl backwards. "No... It can't be! You were one of us! You can't be!" he pointed at Akiza. Before he could say anything else Yusei pinned him down.

"So you were a member of the Arcadia Movement! Tell me! What happened to the guy Goodwin sent to stem you guys? Huh?" he yelled as Chaud struggled under him.

"Didn't you hear, he's dead!" Chaud yelled as he flipped over and pinned Yusei. "You didn't hear? I killed him! He took my beloved, I took his life!" Chaud's voice broke a little bit at the end of the sentence. He got up and walked across the room, he covered his eyes. Before he could speak again, the television began to flash with a breaking news interruption.

"We interrupt this scheduled programming for an urgent news break. Today at around twelve forty during the annual meeting of High Religious Powers an unknown man ran into the conference area and mercilessly began to slaughter all who were present, details are sketchy, but it appeared to have used a gun of unknown origin. As a supposed final measure the man then set off an elaborate set of charges that destroyed the entire facility. There were no survivors and the death count has hit five hundred seventy three. It is unsure if the offender has escaped. Here is the only picture we could obtain from a security camera." a blurry picture of a figure completely covered in black, with a large crest along the top of his head, was on the screen for a moment. "We will bring more details as they arise."

"Huh, looks like there are worse problems then me just being here eh?" Chaud said grimly. He had blinked back his tears and was now facing the group again. "Now, for those of you who don't know, the Arcadia Movement fell, but they were planning a much larger thing then merely bringing down Iliaster, think global conquest." Chaud said with a shudder.

"What do you mean?" Akiza asked. Chaud just chuckled.

**End of Chapter 3. **


	5. Chapter 4: Flesh and Blood Demons

**Chapter 4: Flesh and Blood Demons**

Commandant Hayate stepped under the police tape and marched over to the ruins of the conference centre that had been demolished by an assailant a few hours ago. Ironically it had been scheduled to be demolished in 5 months anyway. Not in this manner with people inside however. Not with people inside whop happened to be some of the most important people in the world. Already crowds of people of various religions; Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, were arriving and being held back by flocks of overwhelmed officers. The rage in the people's voices carried well above the sirens and the helicopters and the hubble-bubble of the on scene officers from all 3 branches of the emergency services and the government agents. This was an act of terrorism and it was their priority.

As he strode across to a small and quickly erected tent on the edge of the zone of destruction where a mountain of broken rubble laid another man stepped out in a suit. He was young considering his position, high indicated by his epileps, and had well groomed black hair and a face so innocent it was clear he was overwhelmed. His left arm was in a sling and blood stained it. He briefly saluted with his free left arm and Hayate responded with another. "Commandant Hayate I presume, from the special branch." The guy said in soft tones, extending a hand which the he took.

"Yes and you are?" Asked Hayate quickly.

"Captain Kyuten, I was in charge of…I was…well, security, sir." Mumbled the boy as he shuffled his feet, his eyes glancing at the crowds that were barely being held back, guilt in his eyes. Hayate brushed a hand through his hair and sighed. He was in his late 40's and was beginning to show age in his face. It was clean shaved but a roughness hung about it, His blonde hair hanging a screw to one side. He was dressed in an old issue uniform with an open trench coat that showed a shirt and a loose tie. On his belt hung a pistol in a holster, stand issue for his division. Liaison with the government and police in big affairs like stings on organized crime for example

"What were the arrangements for security in the first place Captain?" He asked directly. The captain began to tell a tale that amazed Hayate in a terrible way. For an event this pivotal there had been incredibly lax arrangements. The building hadn't even had proper perimeter guards, let alone been searched for explosives! "Are you shitting me?" He practically screamed as he finished. "That was it!" The youngster looked at his feet again but Hayate snapped a hand out and grabbed his chin and hoisted it so he was staring him in the eye, surprising him but summoning fear. "We had the most senior religious leaders in the world under your watch, your duties, and you failed to even provide basic security!"

"I tried my best when the guy attacked, even took some bullets!" He motioned to his arm. "I know I messed up but I think I deserve some kudos sir."

"KUDOS!? The only thing you deserve is a good demotion-" he grabbed the guys epileps and threw them to the ground, symbolically stripping him of rank. "And to have your bollocks nailed by the media! You're goddamm lucky I'm going to cover this fuckup! Get outta here! You'll never work for this country again and you'll be lucky if you live another year before some zealot comes for a kill! Now go make a quick statement, announce your resignation and go home!" The Commandant turned and rubbed the side of his face in agitation as the young guy walked away downcast toward the cameras and new crews. "Shit. Not another war on fucking terror!" He mumbled as he saw the remnants of the pope wheeled by under a drape and being treated with more respect than the usual corpse. "Shit. Shit...just…shit!" He placed his hands on the top of his head and watched the sun set in the distance, a red sunset. Blood had indeed been spilt.

**Somewhere else**

Chaud stirred. His head pounding, the after-effects of the after-effects of his…his problem. First after the high he went into a depression and sometimes had anxiety attacks, leaving him a babbling wreck or a silent vegetate. He barely remembered what had happened since the duel except flashes.

The blond guy had hit him and he had been on the floor. It was all he could remember properly from his last moments. He decided he didn't like the blonde guy.

He went to get up but found he couldn't. He looked around and saw he was chained to a chair in a dark room. It wasn't dank but it was cold, a single stark bulb lighting the room he shuffled and closed his eyes in concentration and attempted to use his ability to freeze the chains to the point of brittleness but found he was still too stoned to do that. He chuckled.

"Hell, I can't control them even when I'm clean!" he laughed but stopped quickly as he found it irritated his migraine, probably caused by the blonde guys swipe at him mostly rather than the drug.

He sat there for a good 20 minutes or so before he heard a door open behind him. He turned his head slightly but still couldn't see who was there. They were turning the pages of something. He waited for them to make the first move. "I'm sorry about this. I'm just a bystander so I have no control over how you are being kept. Saying that; I don't know much about what you've done either." Came the voice. It was gruff but easy on the ear at the same time. It sounded like a politician's voice actually which annoyed Chaud a lot. "What's your name?" He stayed silent. He heard the scraping of something being picked up from the floor; he turned his head round as far as he could and noticed the outline of a guy in the corner of his eye. "I'm not with law enforcement son." He brought himself round to his front and placed down a simple folded chair which he took place on. "Please. Your name." The guy was in his late 40's early 50's and wore a brown suit with white shirt and tie. His face had a beard in brown along with his hair on his head and his eyes. There was friendliness in them that relaxed him for some reason. Something about this man evoked déjà vu.

"Chaud." he said slowly and simply.

"Your accent suggests your not from here." He stated, crossing his arms. "North America I think."

"Pennsyylvania."Chaud replied. "The US Remnant."

"I see. By the looks of things you're an illegal immigrant." Chaud stiffened as he heard him say this. It was the lesser of his problems but it would prove a certain danger of sorts in the future. "But that isn't why you're in this room I don't think. Apparently you were with the Arcadia Movement. That's why as far as I can tell."

"All I remember is being hit by some blonde guy." He left out the part of his drug abuse.

"Oh, Jack." The man chuckled and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "He overreacted a bit." "_Jack the lad eh_?" Chaud thought. "You were in my house after having a nasty crash, I think when the Director sent someone round to check on his…his allies I believe after the terror attack." Chaud flinched slightly as he said this; the guy believed he looked rather uncomfortable. "They found you and someone said you were arcadia from your tattoo and they decided to take you. Jack apparently decided it would be better if you were subdued. I wasn't there bear in mind and this is all from my daughter. I'm only here because it was in my house so they can't hide this operation from me and I'm influential enough to make my pint known." Chaud stared at his right upper arm where his tattoo was that he had received from the movement, it was simple, the logo miniaturized with the date he was discovered, he hadn't wanted it but in the American branch things were stricter, people watched more, people disappeared more, in his case seeing the circumstances he joined... As he thought of this it suddenly hit him what the guy had said and Chaud's eyes widened.

"Your, your daughter?"

"Yes." He nodded, taking a wallet from the inner pocket of his expensive suit and showing him a photo. "Akiza Izinski." Chaud gulped slowly. He hoped they hadn't searched him and that this was some interrogation of sorts. If it was this guy had already found out he wasn't a national and that meant he could be made to disappear very easily. The man replaced the photo as he thought. Then again suppose he was telling the truth. Suppose this was Izinski's father. Suppose he was him. The man suddenly craned his neck and looked past Chaud. He nodded at someone unseen quietly. He folded the folder back and placed it under his arm. Standing up. "It appears my time is up. Don't worry. I'll ensure you're kept well."

"Why?" Asked the American.

"Because, I have a feeling about you." smiled the man who was now behind Chaud.

"Wait! Who are you?"

He heard him stop shortly. "Hideo Izinski as you ask." The door closed with a metallic locking and chaud contemplated the meaning of the exchange.

**Tops, Twins Residence**

"AHHH! I LOOSE AGAIN!" cried the cerulean haired boy as he fell backwards onto the floor in disbelief. He had failed again!

"Calm down Lua. It's just a duel." Came a softer voice from the other side of the room where a girl who looked remarkably similar stood. Her hair in pigtails as opposed to her brother's ponytail. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you crying again?"

"No." Came the reply as the boy stood up. His eyes slightly teary. "I'm too old to cry over a duel. I'm the man of the house Luka!" The male twin was correct in a sense seeing as their parents were never around due to business reasons. They were currently inside the living room area of their home which was expensively decorated and spacious. The epitome of wealth despite the fact they had no idea where that wealth had come from. To them though it didn't matter and why should it have done? The got themselves together and took themselves into the kitchen for dinner before they sat and munched on some pizza in thought. Well Luka did anyway. Lua was consuming most of the pizza. Luka however nibbled slowly and looked out of the clear window to some smoke in the distance. She frowned and knitter her eyebrows together in thought. She hadn't seen the news but she had the basic idea that someone had done something bad.

As they sat eating the door buzzer rang so Lua got up and answered it. When he came back in the room he was holding a sealed letter. He turned it over a few times and sat down. "Who was there Lua?" Asked the girl. He shrugged.

"They left this that's all." He replied, still staring at the envelope.

"Won't you open it?" He showed her what he was looking at. It had the name Inagawa Horikiri printed on it and the words underneath underlined; PRIVATE REGARDING WORK. She made a 'ooh'. Noise. He placed it down on the table and they stared at it like it would jump up for some reason. They didn't have the slightest clue what their parents did. Luka had asked her mother once and had said that it wasn't their business. Lua had done the same to his father only to receive a heavy telling off on the subject of 'knowing your place' resulting the twin crying at the end."What do they do?" Wondered Luka, tempted to open the envelope but fearful incase father found out. As she sat thinking she heard a noise outside in the distance. Lua obviously heard it too as he stood up and craned his neck to look outside at the almost set sun bathed cityscape. Sirens were getting closer, rising and falling, a good number the sound and a loud fast offensive clicking noise was erupting not 3 streets away. If they had been lower down the building they lived on they would have been a lot more fearful.

For it was machine gun fire.

Jack threw himself into an alleyway as he ducked in fear of his life. Adrenaline rushing inside him. The sound of the street was of panic and cruelty. Bullets buzzed over his head as if the air itself was alive and people screamed in pain and terror. He poked his head around and surveyed the area down the road.

Cars had been abandoned and dirty great holes had punctured the sides, in some case causing tongues of flame to lick at the air from the engine. People lay still dreaming the never ending dream in a bath of blood while the assailants continued their firing. There were 4 of them, 3 in basic clothes and balaclavas all with guns while one had a duffle bag which held ammo boxes, tossing them to teammates as they ran out. The fourth guy was different though. He was a good few meters away from Jack but he could still pick out his features of appearance. He was short, half Jacks size almost in a brown suit and with black shirt and a red tie. On his face rested a mask but it was different to the average balaclava. Firstly there were no holes. It was all material so Jack believed there must have been like a two way glass thing, similar to what is used in police interrogation rooms but somehow applied to material. The design on it was simple. All black with a red "A" painted across it over the whole face region. On his head sat a Porkpie hat that made him look slightly less dangerous. Any failure there was countered by the blazing Kalashnikov machine gun in his hands. Jack snapped his head back round as a bullet sang through his hair narrowly missing his head. The heat radiating minutely onto his skull.

"I bet this has something to do with that guy." snarled Jack as he remembered the psychic he had disarmed. "All of this."

Jack had been returning from where the guy was being kept after returning from where the guy was being kept. He had been talking to the man who had sent the hunter to finish off the Arcadia Movement. He had been surprised his agent had been murdered but was very interested in the fellow now in one of the Illiaster cells. They had a base now. Top Secret.

"I've gotta get out of here." He grunted to himself as he pulled out a set of keys from his pockets. He pressed a button on open of the keyrings and waited. He poked his head out of the corner and hoped it would work. He noticed the sound of helicopter blades and looked up to see a craft with men firing down at the guys who were taking cover. Also cars and armoured vans were pulling up with other armed police throwing themselves into the fray behind cover. One of the gunners went down so the suited one snapped up the other's gun and fired both madly at the helicopter. "Come, come on!" thought Jack as he waited for the familiar noise of…yes that was it! His engine, his d-wheel. Behind the group of fighters who had been scrambling across the road to the other side of a van as cover came his bike on auto-pilot, homing on his keys. The bike cruised at high speed straight into the group, knocking them to the floor, on stumbled far enough of that he took a bullet to the head, the one with the ammo. The other two tried to get the bag but couldn't get out without being bombarded by a hail of lead. As jacks bike parked next to him and he got in the helicopter loudspeaker turned on.

"PLACE THE GUNS ON THE GROUND! SURRENDER IMMEDIATLEY! WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED AND YOU WILL DIE IF YOU CONTINUE!" They repeated this a few times and eventually the two threw the machine guns to the floor and stepped out, hands above heads before two ground cops knocked them to the ground as brutally as possible and applied cuffs. Jack sighed, disgusted the two couldn't be finished now. A part of him hoping he could ask to do it himself, put it down to self defence.

He had never seen so much death. The dark signers had killed but it had seemed less real somehow (seen as how they sucked people's souls from their bodies). Seeing blood rain and bullets fly made it far more despicable. "Hey, you!" came a cry as he applied his helmet. He looked to see an armed cop in his almost military garb approach quickly. "Thanks. Without that bike gag we would a lost a lot more good men." Jack just nodded in a slightly detached way. "The cities erupting." Continued the cop in a despaired w\y. "First the bombing s and now…now this!"

"Well you got him now. He fits the description of the guy he made the attack too."

The police officer looked at him. "You obviously haven't heard."

"Heard what?" demanded Jack in the arrogant persona he wore to hide his worry and inner torment and generally weaker side.

"We're spread to the limit. This is the fourth attack in an hour! 4 groups of 4 guys in the 4 areas of the city. All led by masked men." He stated a he radio buzzed in.

"Squad B if you're done there we have a call out, another attack in the park region, get there ASAP!" Came the overwhelmed voice of a female operator. Jack wouldn't believe it. It was war! Real War! The others, were they ok? Hell, would he be ok in 30 minutes? The helicopter blades and the sirens and shouting overcoming any thought s he could have as they split up in vain to counter to hot fires of murder igniting over Neo Domino.

**5 hours later-midnight**

Yusei sighed as the television relayed the images again of the days carnage. He had almost been caught up in it. He had been riding back to an apartment he owned, not too poor not too rich, near the suburbs; he usually used the highways to get back but had remembered he needed to do some groceries. If he had not turned off he would have been in the middle of it. So close.

He was lounging on his sofa at home now. He had found the long way home and had sat watching the events u fold for the last 2 hours with disbelief and anger. It was dark, obviously at this time of night, but he left the lights of so the only light came from the artificial glow of the TV. He had called a lot of his friends when he had got back to make sure they were ok. Luckily no one was too badly affected. Jack he couldn't get hold of though so he was still slightly tense although he was sure Jack could handle the situation. He just couldn't believe it though. 14 attacks. So many dead. He himself had been on the edge incase they came out to this area. His gun waiting under his bed. He rarely ever got it out let alone used it but it was a precaution. A final precaution.

He yawned and decided it was time to get some sleep. This wasn't his battlefield anyway. What could he do against a terrorist threat? At least the dark signers had targeted him and they fought with duel disks. As he got up to turn off the TV is suddenly went funny. The picture began to warp and distort. The sound went wavy and eventually the screen shut to black. Yusei frowned at this. After a few seconds the picture returned. It was in black and white this time and while the quality of sound and appearance was lower it was good enough to understand what was being presented.

The room was dark and damp from the look of it and all that was in it was a small desk and a plastic chair. A man sat on the chair and Yusei glared. It was another guy in a suit. Another guy working the terror outfit.

He wore a black suit and white shirt from what he could tell with a tie the same shade of black. It was all immaculate. On his hands were leather gloves that were tightly held, almost like skin and within those gauntlets was held a black cane with a silverfish handle. His shoes were shiny and black as well. The mask he wore was very distinctive. It was mostly white with black lines emanating from the centre, like a piece of almost shattered glass. On his head was a black fedora hat. He waved his hand slightly and the camera zoomed in closer so the top half of his body was the focus.

"Good Morning Neo Domino." He said in a garbled voice. A voice changer was being used making him sound inhuman and mechanical. "Another day in the big city. After yesterdays bloodshed I'm sure many of you are hoping and praying that things will be different now. That's all well and good but unless you stop feeling sorry for yourselves and stand up ad be counted nothing is going to change bub." He stepped up from his desk and began pacing, the camera still focused.

"Now, many of you probably want me dead, you recognise my overall style…" he indicated his clothing. "and believe me just another suited gunner. If you can pry yourself away from your hatred for one moment please allow me to explain myself and my… roster for the next few years. I am the full Monty everyone. I'm the big cheese, I just like to hide behind others because I'm vulnerable at this moment in time and in truth I don't want meet the reaper just yet. You say that would be weakness for a killer to say that but I'm sure your in that position as well hypocrites. As for my game plan; Terror, terror, my birthday, terror, terror, maybe some fear and more terror."

He laughed to himself, a sound that didn't resonate fully due to his voice changer.

"Allow me to introduce myself ladies and gentleman boys and girls, I am Alias. The Gentleman Alias." He took his hat off as a sign of mock respect. "My interests are freedom, murder and terrorism and my upbringing was in the former US of a. apart from that and my ideals I'm afraid I'm bound by myself. It would be disastrous if the police were to interrupt my performance at this point seeing a the games have only just begun."

He sat back down. "My business here is simple but also complicated. I want chaos. Anarchy. Freedom. Freedom from everything! Law! Religion! Morals! All of that shit! I learned on the battlefield one thing! It's all about you! Me, I and myself! I want you to realise that! I want the world to be as it should be! Free! To do this will be time consuming dangerous and rather painful for many of you but that's all part of the package baby. I don't care hat you think of me as long as in the end you live in my world, my world where you can find your true self, your true morals, where you can have liberty, true liberty."

He looked at his wrist were a watch was set. "Ahhh. It appears I'm out of time. Sorry but my speech will have to wait for later. Its so frustrating when you're interrupted mid-point isn't it? Oh well, I leave you with this then boys and girls, my story, my legacy is about to begin! People will remember me forever and don't care what for because my goals would have been met and I'll be dead and buried…or do I want to be cremated? Or thrown in a ditch? Decomposition would help the earth and the plant life….anyhow like I said boys and girls the book's opening and I'm starting to read regardless of whether you're sitting fucking comfortably or not! Good Morning to you!" With a tip of his hat and a wave the screen went back to black.

Yusei glared at the screen harder as the flabbergasted news reporter reappeared onscreen and he took himself into his room to rest.

"He has to be stopped." He mumbled as he lay down and stared at the ceiling. The tension he had experienced before somehow finding its way back up his spine somehow. "God, I hope everyone's ok." And then he knew nothing but darkness as his eyes closed.

**End of Chapter 4. **


	6. Chapter 5: Interrogation

**Chapter 5: **Interrogation

Hours ticked by slowly in Chaud's cell. Those hours ticked by into days. After what Chaud thought was three days he was moved into a bigger cell, with a bed, a toilet, a shower and the weirdest feature; a giant mirror. He was having withdrawls from his drugs and was too whacked out to realize it was one way window. His physical appearence started to deteriorate: his hair became greasy, his skin oily, his eyes bloodshot and sunken in. He looked like a total wreck. Everyday a woman in a white coat and mask came into his cell, and when she did he was chained to a chair; she then proceded to feed him. The food was good, but he couldn't register it. He couldn't put together a coherent thought. The withdrawl made him hear only a loud shrieking noise when he was awake, and when he slept he was filled with visions of terror. After what seemed like a week, the nice woman in the white coat came in and demanded he clean up. She waved a syringe in front of his face as an incentive. He quickly did as he was told, keeping his eyes on the tube of clear fluid. When he stepped out of the shower and got dressed he rolled up his sleeve. As he was about to shoot up she smacked his hand with a whip, much to the fashion of a nun or dominatrix. She instead gave him just enough to bring him back to a predetermined degree of normal. "That what you do in your free time?" he smirked as he nodded to the whip. "Please, give me more. I've been a naughty boy. Perhaps a tug of the hair, mistress?" he said with a wink. He imagined she was rolling her eyes behind her dark goggles.

"The Director wants to speak to you." she said simply. The door then slid open, Chaud then noticed a flicker in the mirror. A table was brought in, then three chairs. Chaud sat in one, the other two remained empty for a few minutes. The Director, a grey suit clad older gentleman with long white hair, and Hideo Izinski joined him in the room.

"What do you two want?" Chaud asked.

"No need for hostility, we just want to ask you a few questions. Answer them in any order you wish, we only have four: Why are you here? How were you involved with the Arcadia Movement? What happened on the eve of your birthday last year? Finally, what led to this addiction?" the Director said as he pointed to the syringe the nurse was holding.

"Director Goodwin, you're asking a few really personal questions. You sure you want to tread on this ground?" Hideo asked.

"It's fine, my life is an open book, if you want me to read it fine." Chaud replied. "But I must warn you, the things I'm about to mention will shake your very soul. The American branch wasn't as easy to simply research as the Japanese branch was."

**-F-l-a-s-h-b-a-c-k-**

_I was five years old when they took me. I remember a kind doctor telling me that I'd be ok, that these people would be able to help me control my ability; although, my memory has been shot since I became an addict. At the time it (my ability) was just manifesting and I was just freezing water under my feet. _

A five year old Chaud was hooked up to a large silvery machine. It whirred quietly and was generating seemingly random numbers which the scientists recorded. A female doctor whose strawberry-blond hair was pulled back into a tight bun kept looking at the young Chaud's vitals; heart rate, blood pressure, etc.

"You're doing very well sweetie, just stay relaxed and try to freeze this glass of water." she said calmly as she held up a small glass of water. Chaud touched the glass and watched as the glass fogged over and it frosted. The water itself soon became slush, then solid ice.

"Why could I only use my power after you gave me that shot?" Chaud asked innocently. The doctor's eyes filled with sorrow, Chaud was too young to understand the look.

"It's to help you control your special ability." she said with a slight break in her voice. She unhooked the boy from the EKG and let him leave the room. Two more doctor's walked into the room. "You know you're going to kill him don't you?" she said withholding a sob.

"It's a sacrifice we're going to have to make. If we even have a chance at creating the perfect army then we have to do what we have to do." one of them said. It was impossible to tell which, they both wore masks.

"He's going to become addicted to this stuff and you'll have to kill him like you did the last batch!" she shouted. "He's my sister's baby boy! His father left them before he was even born! I'm not going to let this take him away from his mother!" she started to cry and left the room quickly. Chaud was waiting for her outside.

"What were you talking about?" he asked. He then switched gears when he saw her crying. "Why are you crying? Did those two guys say something mean?" he looked up at her with his big, blue child's eyes. She smiled down at him and took his hand.

"No, it's fine, let's get you up to bed. You must be getting tired." she said as she began leading him down a hallway.

_A few years later I learned that doctor was my Aunt Kasi, and she was crying because the other doctors were making me a monster, a concept I hadn't grasped quite yet. I was then nine or ten. Civil War had broken out again and the scientists were beginning to experiment with amplifying abilties. My best friend Bass was a decipath or whatever it's called. He could control sound. He was the first successful experiment. He was shipped off to fight for the Eastern Alliance, a mission he barely came back from. _

"Hey, Chaud, look at this!!" a boy of African American descent shouted excitedly as he ran over to the blue haired boy who was casually eating a candy bar. Bass thrust out his palm and it distorted the air and moved objects in its path. A loud boom also sounded across the courtyard. Chaud stared in amazement.

"Cool! How'd you do that?!" the blunette squeeked.

"The doctors put me in a weird box and had me breathe in this fog stuff and when I came out I could do that!" the young Bass exclaimed loudly.

"That's awesome!!" Chaud shouted.

"I have some bad news though." Bass said, suddenly solemn. "They're sending me to a field experiment. I'm leaving tomorrow." he kicked at the dirt.

"Lucky, I wish I could get out of this place. Well you should be back here soon anyway, you can just tell me all about it then!" ten year old Chaud exclaimed.

_He did tell me, three years later, he told me all of the horrors of war. I guess I never told you what led to the addiction, the drug they gave us was a fabricated chemical they call H-Two-O, but it's spell with the Roman numeral for two, and it ain't water lemme tell ya. It was made originally as a means of completely supressing abilities, but when they brought in a strongman who's ability was merely dampened by it they remade it into a controllant. At this point I'm about fourteen and I'm in the middle of puberty. I'm fully addicted to H-two-O and am getting rehabed out. It was around this time I recieved my Ice deck and 'The Dragon's Skull' my Duel Runner. _

"Chaud, you have to do this without the drug, you need to freeze this water." an older Dr. Kasi was talking to an older Chaud. "Please, for me?" she tried again.

"I'm not a child, I don't need to do this for anybody." Chaud said as he faced the tank of water in front of him. It was large enough to hold an orca whale, and Chaud had to control his ability without the drugs. He held his hands against the glass and concentrated. His brow furrowed as he tried to freeze only the water in the tank. Instead giant pillars of ice shot up from the ground and burst from the sides of the tank. The water drained away and left Chaud standing next to a disappointed Dr. Kasi.

"At least you have the ability to use your power clean. We just need to get you completely clean and work on control." she sighed. Chaud didn't say anything further. He merely stepped out of the room and headed to the dueling arena.

-At the Dueling Arena-

A black haired girl with pasty pale skin was facing off against another girl of similar colored hair, the difference was in the style; one had short, pixie cut hair. The other had her hair down to her waist. Both were in school uniforms, gray blazer's, black tie, black skirts, mid thigh high socks. They were in the iron cage meaning this was a fight, not a normal duel. Chaud recognized the long haired girl and immediately rushed over to the cage, jumping onto the chain link fence to see what was going on. According to the score board she was down by eight thousand life points, her opponent used a point gain deck. The long haired girl was calm though as she drew her next card. She cooly set two cards and wordlessly ended her turn. The audience of hormone driven boys cheered for the pixie cut girl as she drew her next card. "I activate Cost Down, and by discarding two cards I can make Airknight Parshath a level three monster. I think I'll utilize that by summoning him! (3/1900/1400)" she squeeked.

"You've triggered my trap card, Life Equalizer! This can only be activated when you have eight thousand more points then me, it now makes us both have three thousand." she said with no clear emotion. Her eyes glazed over as vines shot up from the ground and wrapped themselves around the duelists, squeezing them both. They then rushed back into the ground as a loud uproar of boo's and hisses rose from the crowd.

(Both player's LP: 3000)

"So what drop-out, I'm attacking your life points directly!" the turn duelist ordered. The defending player the revealed another trap. Blasting the Ruins.

"You lose." The cage doors swung open as the vines shot up from the ground again, this time they crushed the life out of the other girl, then took the lifeless body back into the dirt with them. A grim fate to the losers of Arcadia Cage Matches. This was the only effective method of weeding out the undesireables. The winner's eyes began to fill with tears as more jeers came from the audience. One of the spectators, a red headed boy with the muscle of a full grown bull charged into the cage at her. Chaud intercepted the attacker with a quick punch to the jaw. He then proceded to fight street style with the much larger boy. Only after Chaud froze him completely in place did the audience stop completely. Chaud was a force to be rightfully feared when he was angry, for he was never angry, in a complete rage he had total domination over his deadliest of abilities. He ran over to the weeping girl and held her close to him.

"You dueled well." he said reassuringly. The girl continued to sob uncontrolably into his chest. He picked her up and started for the dormitories, nobody dared speak. Chaud had the grim look of death itself on his face.

"Thanks Chaud, I never wanted this. I just want out." she whispered as he carried her away from the arena.

"That's not an option, not now." he said quietly. He then heard a voice from the crowd.

"So he's just going to protect his girlfriend forever? The bitch oughta learn to face her fate instead of running to Chaud 'ere!" the voice rang. Everyone backed up and formed a ring around the other boy. Chaud gave the girl to one of her friends and charged the other boy. Before anyone could say a word Chaud jumped up and kneed the boy in the chest. He then pinned him to the ground and began to mercilessly pound on the loose tounged bastard, stopping only to clench his fists together and deliver a final blow to the nose. The second boy lay there, bleeding from his nose and many cuts on his face. Chaud then picked the girl up and continued on his way.

_That guys was right about one thing; she was my girlfriend. Her name was Audrey. We were paired together around the time we started to mature. We were to mate, have a child and bring in a new generation of soldiers. Of course since we weren't fully mature they merely threw us into a room and let us be. We grew to love each other. She always knew something to say or do that would make me happy. _

Chaud was sitting in his and Audrey's room, his head hung low and held up by cupped hands over his temples. He was feeling the worst of his withdrawls. Dr. Kasi had taken Chaud down a few dosages and it started to make him different. He was relaxing more, he was even calmer and was never angry unless put into an emotionally trying situation. The only major damage was he became really depressed very easily. The situation wasn't helped by the fact that he barely knew his parents. Audrey pushed open the door to see him pulling a razor blade out of his sock drawer. She quickly stepped over and grabbed his hand before the razor made contact with his wrist. "Something you want to talk about?" she asked. Chaud shook her hand away and threw the blade away.

"I don't know my folks and it's bugging me, on top of the withdrawl." he replied.

"Well you need to know, the withdrawl is going to happen, but you're going to need to vent in a way that's not going to damage you physically. Now are you doing better in training or not?" she continued.

"To an extent, but I'm still heavily dependant on the drugs."

"Well, you'll get better. And as far as parents are concerned, relax, we'll get to see them soon enough. Anything else on your mind?"

"I killed Mac didn't I?"

"He didn't die of the beating, he died much later from alcohol poisoning. I doubt he would have said anything unless he was drunk." Audrey reassured. Chaud clutched his temples and groaned.

"I don't want to hurt anyone anymore Audrey, I just can't do it. I'm sorry if I don't seem very strong anymore but I can't handle the pain..." he whimpered. Audrey lifted his face by his chin.

"You're trying to get a handle on your addiction, I think that makes you very strong. You're trying to overcome a difficult obstacle, you'll do it." she said warmly.

"Hey before I forget, what was Blackthorn doing here?" Chaud asked.

"The guys upstairs want to send us to attack the weakened armies. They want to make a full force effort to rule the country." she said grimly.

"What'd Blackthorn have to say?"

"That sending minors into the grinder would get their asses killed so fast they'd be dead before they started falling. His exact words. He always uses some stupid line. He also said that if one of the subjects were to ever be released, the world would probably end and that those stupid ... would be the blame. He said a forbidden word, my virgin lips couldn't repeat it." she said innocently. Chaud laughed.

"Nothing about you is virgin, 'cept maybe..." he replied smartly as he quickly looked over her body. Audrey rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Nothing..."

_A year passed and the Arcadia Movement crumbled. Aunt Kasi smuggled Audrey and I out of the facility. She sent us both to see our parents. It was there that my mom told me about my biological father; where he had come from, about his family. I searched the database of the Arcadia Movement and found a person who matched the name. They lived in Neo Domino, Audrey and I went out to find them and a new mentor, someone to teach me to control my abilities. That's what shocked me so badly about you Izinski, your daughter could teach me complete control. While we were here Audrey mastered her abilities and we soon started a small flower shop to provide some income. Which brings me to your final question, Director. November eightteenth. _

"I'm so glad we were able to start this business, baby." Audrey spoke softly to Chaud as the two examined a room filled with colorful flowers.

"Yeah, it'll bring in more then enough income to survive. The fact that you mastered your ability amazes me to no end... Just remember, if any of your plants ever talk to me or make sucking sounds when I bleed, I'm torching it." Chaud chuckled. Audrey gave a small laugh.

"What kind of man are you?" she asked jokingly, she had questioned his masculinity everytime a musical he knew was ever referenced.

"The perfect one. Oh! That kind of reminds me, I need to go out and get some stuff." he said quickly. Audrey kissed him slowly before she let him go.

"I'll text you later if you're not back by then. I love you. Happy Birthday!" she said cheerfully.

"Love you too."

_Of course, I didn't know what was going to happen next. And you may lose me here. This is where the story gets its saddest. I got a text message from Audrey telling me to meet her at an old building near the unfinished Daedalus Bridge. _

"Hello?" Chaud called out. A soft laugh was all that could be heard in response. Chaud couldn't see anything in this darkness. Almost as if as a response to his thought a single light turned on. Beneath it was a chair and in the chair sat a completely bound and gagged Audrey. A man wearing a white suit appeared behind her, a knife in his hand.

"Looks like I'll be having a two-fer. Two freaks for the price of one." he crooned from behind a solid white mask. He held the knife to her throat. Instead of cutting her then he took the gag from her mouth. He then quickly sliced the blade though her neck. Crimson blood sprayed from the wound, Audrey screamed. Chaud couldn't move, he was held in place by fear. He soon mustered up the courage and ran over to his dying love. The killer backing away cautiously.

"Audrey... No! You can't die! Not now! Not after all that's happened!" he yelled, beginning to go into hysterics.

"Chaud," she whispered. "It's ok... I love you." and with her last strength she kissed him. And before it even registered, she passed. Her blood still trickling down Chaud's fingers. His eyes began to fill with tears. He began to sob uncontrolably. The killer then made an advance to finish his task. Before he could strike Chaud stood. His eyes burning red. The blood on his fingers had frozen into claws. He rushed the assailant and punched quickly, knocking him back several feet. A scorch mark on the suit where Chaud punched. Chaud then charged again, a trail of fire where his feet were. He clutched the suited man by the throat, the man screamed as his flesh burned. Chaud then threw him into a nearby wall, a jet of flame bursting from his palm as he did. In an instant the entire building was burning, the man was unconscious. Chaud grabbed Audrey, chair and all, and left the building. Within seconds of his evacuation the building collapsed.

**-E-n-d- -F-l-a-s-h-b-a-c-k-**

Chaud was crying now, his head in his arms. He pounded the table a few times in frustration. "It was one of those bastards from Illiaster, a hunter! This..." Chaud looked up at the Director, his eyes red. "This is your fault! You sent that hunter! He took the love of my life! You took her from me! I should kill you!" Chaud made a half hearted attempt at a lunge across the table, but he was quickly slammed down by his depression. "I can't kill you, I just can't. She wouldn't want me to be a murderer." he mumbled. From behind the mirror he heard the song 'Carry on my Wayward Son' he turned to the mirror and stared angrily. He jumped at the glass "Is this something funny to you!?" he screamed.

-Behind the glass-

Commandant Hyate ordered that the music be turned off. He turned to an officer standing next to him. "You thought this was Alias?" he asked.

"I did, not anymore though. Not after those testimonies from the people who were in the suits during those shootings. I'm surprized how many suicdals we found actually, there were tons of psychos in there too. Kind of scary to think about. As far as the tape goes, it couldn't have come from here. He had no access to a camera."

"You're missing the big picture behind that; it was filmed and sent from a computer. Dates aren't even important, he could have made them anytime," Hayate said as he pointed to the still raging boy in the cell. "Nevertheless, he isn't Alias. He's too enraged and heartbroken to be a madman. No, we're dealing with a whole new breed of villain."

"What about Mr. Clyde's statement about psychics needing to be 'protected' during this time of crisis, doesn't that raise some suspicion?" the officer asked.

"No, Balthasar's just looking for votes. He's a politician, that's what he does." the commandant said simply.

-Back in the cell-

"So you've come here looking for my daughter so you could learn how to control your powers clean?" Hideo asked after Chaud settled back down. Chaud chuckled and looked at the floor.

"You can say that, but remember earlier in my story? The name my mom gave me. Tell me; does the name Daniella Blaare mean anything?" Chaud posed. Hideo thought about it. He then shook his head. Chaud looked up at him with a smirk. "Well it should, Dad."

**End of Chapter 5**


	7. Chapter 6: Another Stranger

_**Chapter 6: **_Another Stranger Rides to Town

"What?" Hideo asked, taken aback by the sudden revelation.

"Want me to repeat that in Japanese?" Chaud asked. Hideo just stared at him, disbelief and a bit of disgust on his face. He quickly looked at Goodwin who had the faintest appearence of a smirk on his face. He was calculating something.

"I... I just can't believe it. I don't really remember what happened at all that long ago."

"Mom said you were drunk, listen if you want a blood sample for testing I got the hole in my arm now just give me a needle..."

"That won't be required, Chaud. Mr. Izinski, if you'll please join me outside for a moment." Goodwin stated as he motioned to the door. Hideo nodded and followed the Director into the hallway outside of the cell. When the door was closed securely Goodwin began to speak. "This is certainly an interesting turn of events." he commented.

"I suppose, but don't you think its strange that he chose now to make his appearence? I mean if he knew who I was why not just track me down right away?" Hideo posed.

"If you had no clue who your father was for seventeen years, would you not want some time to prepare what to say? Regardless, I believe this Chaud character may be a powerful ally. Do you perhaps think you can bring your daughter in here? I have an idea that may prove if he is your son and may provide us with a loyal ally."

"I'll see what I can do." the politician responded as he pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and began to dial.

**Two Hours Later, Sattelite**

Crow grinned in satisfaction as The Black Bird roared into life, the primal noise of its engine filling the air before quieting down to humming that only an engine could make. Crow stood up and wiped his hands on an oil rag and set about throwing his old tools into their box and placing them on the old wooden shelf in the dusty garage.

The day Yusei had left for the city he had told Crow his intentions and had asked whether he would come; he had declined as evidenced by his presence in the slums on the grounds that he still had things to do. Mainly feeding the runaways he had 'adopted' as siblings. "Much in the same way Yusei and Jack are mine." He muttered to himself as he stretched his arms and stepped outside.

The two of them had grown up in Martha's orphanage together and although they had not immediately 'hit it off' (Crow had at one point ripped the head of a tearful jacks teddy bear and had killed Yusei's pet spider) they grew to adopt each other as brothers, their bond had been strained at points but never broken. As he exited the shack and stepped out into the afternoon sun he smile to himself as he saw some of the kids playing an improvised game of baseball on an old derelict parking lot just past the various improvised houses of corrugated steel and junk and past improvised gardens of weeds and common small flower. In short an improvised world. An adaptable one. It was one of the reasons that made Crow proud to be a Satellite Native.

Above him was the still unfinished Daedalus Bridge. There had been progress though. When the Dark Signers had been defeated Goodwin and sent them material and consent to build it themselves. It had been tough and at times unfair (materials had mysteriously vanished and had been blamed on Inland Rebels despite their being miles from any Rebel territory) but it was getting there. They were roughly halfway.

Crow stepped out and walked toward the field where the kids were playing and watched for awhile, cheering when they scored and laughing at their mistakes, not unkindly and helping them when they hurt themselves. After an hour or so of this the kids got tired and left to rest, eat, talk and do whatever a satellite child does to enjoy themselves. It was then Crow decided it was time to make a 'grocery' trip. He got his trusty duffle bag and made his way back to the garage to mount his bike, attaching a small battered trailer to the back before though. It started with a reliable vroom and he sped off, performing a frontal wheelie for the young ones watching.

He was heading to the docks for the weeks supply of food handouts, he had a bag full of child coupons as well as his own adult one. You collected your handouts at the allotted time on the ticket and got another telling you when your next time was in a week's time.

The air tasted dirty and pungent on his nose as he rode despite his helmet muffling it slightly. The huddled masses moving slightly as he shot past on the barely established ruined roads and through the ruined maze of buildings. Just because the city would soon be accepted within the cities limits didn't mean things would definitely get better, at least not immediately.

He came eventually to the broad open square that categorized where the Admin centre of the island (the PSMB branch) was when held when his bike conked out and he pulled over near a dried out fountain. He got off and heard the sound of cheering and shouting through loudspeakers. He turned and saw a large group of people together with boards bearing slogans like 'SATELLITE FREEDOM!' and 'BURN GOODWIN BURN' among others. On their arms sat an armband, every single one, a simple brown piece of cloth with a black S painted on crudely, in different shades for each person. At their lead was an elderly man with a loudspeaker who appeared to be leading them. He stuck it not only for his hunched over stature but the fact most of the crowd were young teens and adults.

"Be on your guard men." Crow heard from the building where the PSMB was held for the island. Looking closer he realized at every window was a riot officer with a rifle. They were preparing for the worst. Crow turned and looked back at the crowd of people. The man had been giving a speech and although Crow had missed the beginning parts he most certainly knew the more pivotal parts were approaching.

"- Goodwin keeps you all prisoners here!" Shouted the man with more enthusiasm than his frame suggested. "He uses you as slaves for his corrupt regime, breaching all your rights leaving you to build his empire only to thro you to the dirt! Where would he be without us?"

The crowd roared in approval and the officers stiffened.

" This Alias! He fights our enemy! He humbles them! He shows them fear and speaks of liberty for all, I say we follow his example and set the land alight with our passion and our fury! He is an ally! A good man whom all should aspire to if we are ever to gain our place in the world!" Roared the man over the crowd who were gearing themselves up. "Let them know! Let them know we will give no more! Let them know the price is Blood or FREEDOM!" At the last word a huge cheer went up and the crowd began chanting Blood or Freedom over and over proudly and angrily. Crow grimaced and after fiddling with his bike escaped as fast as he could incase anything bad happened.

He had been rather disgusted by the word of the man. Alias a Good man!? To aspire to!? If slaughtering Neo Domino Citizens and religious leaders made you great and good then Crow wanted to be bad. He just feared that the Satellite Civil Right Movement wouldn't understand that. Later he reached the docks where a large freighter sat. On the dockside were a few venues where many stood in line and walked away from with bag of food clutched to themselves like a holy book. It was little and stealing was rife. An unspoken law that being a thief among the other people was condoned but only if you got away with it.

Crow stopped his cycle and waited in line, not before he activated the anti-theft devices though. Eventually he handed in his food tickets and collected the rations into his trailer and began going back. Halfway through his trip he suddenly heard a noise of another engine, unlike any he had ever used. It was petrol driven. The clunky roaring noise far more noticeable than the whining roar of his Black Bird. Crow frowned and thought of the food in the trailer. "Thieves." Thought the serial criminal as he turned off suddenly and proceeded through a more deserted area to loose the chaser.

He made sharp turns, drove through perilous ruins and even shot over deep crevices that would have killed him if he had missed but still the pursuer followed him.

"He can ride." Muttered Crow as he snatched a look back to catch a glimpse. He wasn't there. Confused Crow turned forward and suddenly he braked and pulled his bike to the side in an attempt to slow down. In front of him was his foe. He stopped 6 feet short of hitting him.

"How'd you get there then?" Questioned Crow suspiciously.

The rider pointed up and Crow noticed a rocky ramp of junk that he appeared to have turned onto and then dropped down here. The bike he rode looked a real monstrosity of technology. Its basic frame was an old darkest green petrol driven motorcycle, complete with petrol tank in the chassis and fume release system. On the sides were nailed down roughly hologram projectors and compartments to allow riding duels along with a clunky looking holographic display and duel disk holder near the handle bars. Finally at the back was slung a brown bag that strapped on to the seat and had two large duffle bag sized pouches.

The rider was dressed in black tracksuit bottoms with a yellow stripe design going up the side and a dark grey top. Over this was slung an old rough and dirtied green jacket and on his head sat a helmet that appeared as old as his bike design. Off-road design in black and with an orange tinted glass section so Crow could just see his eyes sizing him up.

Crow stopped his bikes engine and the guy followed suit. Crow dismounted but the rider didn't move. "I guess you want the rations." Chuckled Crow as he cracked his knuckles. "Well, your not getting them."

"Lucky I don't want to steal them, despite my longing for food then." Came the muffled reply. It's accent was hidden as a result but it was rather posh and that threw Crow abit, it contrasted greatly from his look.

"What do you want?" Asked the orange haired man ( for he was now legally) as he narrowed his eyes.

"You to give me some rations."

"You said you didn't want them."

"I said I would not steal them." The rider leant back a little and crossed his arms. "Not that you wouldn't be courteous enough to share your sizeable bounty with myself Mr?"

"Crow."

"Crow?-"

"Just Crow to you pal." He smirked. "No matter what long words you may use you aren't getting any of this food." Silence for a few seconds.

"You appear rather too…healthy for the amount of food you are carrying to be only for yourself." The rider looked him up and down. " Surely we can come to some arrangement."

"Yes we can. Here it is; you can leave me alone and I don't knock you over." Crow turned and got back on his bike and that was when the rider made his challenge.

"How about a duel. If you win I piss off and we can forget we ever had this encounter, when I win you share some ration with me...Please, I'm desperate." He pointed at him as he said this and crow decided to take notice of him now as he mulled it over, holding back retort on how overconfident his statement had been. Looking at him he did seem a little nervous and his body language suggested he was suffering from great hunger, backed by a small growl from his stomach.

"_Perhaps that's why he didn't stand up_. Okay then." Nodded Crow to which the other guy relaxed slightly and leaned back a little, fishing his deck from and inside pocket in his jacket and placing it in the duel slot, Crow noticed he appeared to have more than one deck on the insides of his jacket but didn't get a close enough peek to see how many. At least 3 on that side of the jacket at least. He ignited his bikes engine again and pulled alongside Crow. The two of them activated their Speed World as per the rules of a riding duel.

"Duel mode; Auto Pilot Standby." Came the computers responses on both just before their bikes jetted off into the distance.

C: 4000 (Counters: 0)

? :4000 (Counters:0)

"I'll go first!" Crow snapped a card from his deck and grunted, not satisfied with his hand but having a way to remedy it.. "Firstly I set two cards facedown and then I activate Reload!"

He placed his 3 remaining hand cards on top of his deck and watched as the automatic shuffler did its work and expelled 3 new cards for him. Much better.

"Summon Black Feather-Black Lance Blast (4/1700/800)." A bird like creature began to descend from above to take its place in front of Crow. It looked almost chicken like with a red feathered head but a blue body and wings. In its grip was a great lance that looked as if it could completely decapitate you let alone stab you.

"Turn end. Show me what you've got!" Called Crow over the noise. To the guy just behind him.

C: 4000 (speed counters: 1)

? : 4000 (speed counters: 1)

"Very well." He drew his card and studied his hand before placing his card carefully down. "I set a monster and a spell or trap and end my turn there."

The facedown spell/trap momentarily appeared while the set monster remained, travelling along with them. Crow smirked and drew another card to add to his now 3 card hand.

C: 4000 (speed counters: 2)

? : 4000 (speed counters: 2)

"I summon Black Feather-North Pole Blizzard(2/1300/400) ." The newest Black feather was small and icy blue, it flew acrobatically over the field calling loudly. "I then use Blizzards effect as a tuner to synchro summons a level 6 monster."

The two monsters transformed into granules of light and floated up high before clashing together in a display of light which when it had died allowed the Ride to see his newest monster.

"Black Feather-Arms Wing (6/2300/2100)." He simply said as a black and purple armoured birdman glided above him. A man of red feathers around its head and in its arms a deadly looking bladed weapon. "Activate set card; Delta Crow-Anti Reverse!"

The card flipped up and a yellow glow enveloped his synchro.

"My trap means when a Black Feather is in play I can destroy all set cards you have, just in case that card is a trap. Now, Go!"

The birdman lashed out and the aura became a wave that crashed over his spell/trap and obliterated it, the biker shaking slightly around in the seat of his cycle. Crow didn't let up though and declared the attack of Arms wing which cleaved the set monster clean in half.

C: 4000 (counters 2)

?: 1700 (counters 2)

"I assume your monster has trample effect, but even so I should have lost less." Proclaimed the opponent, calling over his shoulder. "My monster had 500 defence not 0 as my lp would have me believe."

"Arms wing gains 500 attack points in the damage step if he battles a defensive monster." Explained Crow causing the rider to nod in understanding. "So you may want to get more aggressive if you want to win."

Before he could declare his turns end though the helmeted guy interrupted.

"The Monster you attacked was flipped before it was destroyed by the way so that means I can activate its effect." His deck spat a card out for him which he placed carefully on the top of his deck. "Artisan Picora (2/600/300) lets me place one monster in my deck with an equal or lower level than the highest ranked monster on top of my deck as long as it is an armourloid."

The rider drew slowly again. Grabbing the newest monster that at the very least was a level 6. Crow raised an eyebrow.

"Armourloid? Is that a family of cards?" he said to himself.

C: 4000 (Counters 3)

?: 1700 (Counters 3)

"I activate the Speed Spell: Angel Baton! Because I have over 2 speed counters I can now discard a card and draw 2!" He flipped his newly acquired card into the graveyard slot and snatched another 2 from his deck. As his card entered the grave it was ejected out again and a new monster began to appear on Crows opponents' field, just ahead of Crow's D-Wheel. An insect like green and grey steel machine made its mark upon the field. Its two arms holding buzzing chainsaws that cut through the ear violently.

"When Kamikaze Chainsaw Warrior (3/1400/700) is sent to the graveyard outside of battle I can special summon it immediately with half its normal point score." Explained the rider, as he said this machine halved in size and the appropriate changes to stats made it a 700 atk power monster and 350 def. Crow gritted his teeth.

"_He wouldn't summon a weak card like that alone. He's going to release it!" _he thought with a grim face. Then he remembered.

"hang on!" He shouted just as the rider was ready to play his next move. "That isn't an armourloid or whatever it was you said it was! You cheat!"

"Armourloid isn't a card name. Allow me to illuminate you." The guy said simply, look carefully at the card info on your computer screen."

Crow did that, tapping on kamikaze and bringing up the card picture and stats. He noticed why it was an armourloid now. Where Machine was written a forward slash separated it from the word 'armourloid'. Also it had an effect stating that it would not be treated as a machine but only as an armourloid.

"Understand now?" he questioned ahead of Crow.

"Get on with it." grunted the orange haired one.

"Of course. I release Kamikaze in order to release summon a new monster." Kamikaze disappeared an in its place stood a great bulbous steel creature with long clawed steel arms and short stubby legs. A red globe for eyes at its centre and many rockets planted on its back. Primed to kill. "Armoured Walker Urherion (6/2500/1800) is today's choice." Commented the rider loosely. "Now attack Arms Wing! World in Pieces!" As he called for the attack it delivered a rocket skyward which began to trace a route straight for the Black Feather. It screamed in fear just before it left the world in a fiery ball of destruction.

C: 3800 (Counters 3)

?: 1700 (Counters 3)

"Next I'll set a card and I'll end my turn there I believe." The holographic set card briefly appearing before fading away above the fast moving road.

Crow slipped a new card off his deck.

C: 3800 (counters: 4)

?: 1700 (Counters 4)

"I'll copy you I think by playing my own Speed Spell: Angel Baton." He discarded a card and drew two cards himself which he smiled at slightly. "I special summon Black Feather-Dawnbreak Sirocco (5/2000/900) because you have monsters and I don't." Another birdman flew down, this one more crow like in a brown tunic of sorts. "Next I'll normal summon Black Feather- Mistral the Silver Shield (2/100/1800)!" A small silverish bird chirped in a high pitched tone and settled on the front of the Black bird D-Wheel happily. The two new monsters suddenly burst into light balls symbolising levels and flew upward, signifying a synchro summon via Mistrals status as a tuner.

"Synchro summon! Black Feather-Armoured Wing (7/2500/1500)!" Crows signature monster took its place next to its master. The black and orange rimmed armoured Black feather with a face like a Cyclops made a few combat gestures before settling down, impatient to fight.

"Activate set card! Call of the Haunted! I can special summon a monster in my grave in attack mode and I choose Arms Wing!" materializing from a mist expelled from the card came the second high powered Black Feather. "Attack Urherion Armoured Wing!" the signature card flew forward and prepared the punch the armourloid square in the eye which it did. The eye shattered and the walker wobbled wildly for a bit before collapsing backward onto its missile supply, exploding and wiping it out.

"Armoured Wing must be impervious to battle destruction." Noted the rider to himself, eyeing it in admiration and frustration.

"Arms Wing! Finish him off!" The resurrected Black Feather screamed in agreement and flew forth to win for its master only to be stopped by a trap card.

"Crisis Boulder activate!" The rider shouted his voice more noticeable now. As he said this from behind Crow came a rumbling, he turned and his eyes widened as he saw a huge orange metal ball powered by an engine rolling at Arms Wings back. "Boulder can only be played when I would lose a duel to an attack. It destroys the attacking monster and you take damage equal to its level times 200. Sorry." The boulder overtook the Black feather and it screamed in pain as it was crushed underneath the weight of the trap-tank. Crow groaned as he took more damage.

Crow: 2600 (counters: 4)

?: 1700 (counters: 4)

"Had enough?" Asked the rider, turning around more than before, his voice dripping with sarcasm to which Crow shook his head only to end his turn.

The rider drew a card.

Crow: 2600 (counters: 5)

?: 1700 (counters 5)

"I summon Rothus, the Traveller (4/2000/1000) in attack mode an activate his effect in succession." A brown robot with a 'head' and gun arms atop tank treads rolled forward. "It's effect states when it is summoned we must both pick a face-up monster and destroy it. Obviously I choose Rothus and obviously you choose-"

"Armoured Wing." Sighed Cow, as they both slid the cards into the graveyard, his field now open. "Next I play a Speed Spell, Speed Spell: Summon Speeder. When we have 4 counters I can special summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand. In this situation I think Explosive Trooper Zalmez (4/1900/1400) will do the trick nicely." He explained in his usual calm voice. A red armoured more humanoid machine thing trooped outwards, its arms covered in pistons and its head almost insect liked in its shape. Its right arm dominated by a 2 pronged claw with a hole in it which proved to be a flamethrower which it sprayed threateningly all the time clanging the claw open and shut. The rider pointed at Crow. "Attack Zalmez!" The trooper, made a stance and exulted flame all over the Satellite Native as he screamed in pain.

?: 1700 (counters: 6)

C: 700 (Counters: 6)

"Now I'll end my turn with a set card. Your move."

Crow breathed heavily and took up his next card for his two card hand.

?: 1700 (Counters: 6)

C: 700 ( Counters: 6)

He looked at his hand hard for a good few seconds before making the next play of the game. He sighed and set a monster facedown.

"End turn." In his head he knew he had lost now but his heart told him not to give in easily.

The rider drew.

?: 1700 (counters: 7)

C: 700 (counters: 6)

"This is over I'm afraid Crow, do you want to give in?" Asked the rider in a tone that Crow associated with concern, although he refused to believe a satellite guy would be that concerned with winning.

"No way!" Called Crow back. "Come and get me if you think you can!"

"Ok then sir! I accept your challenge!" he declared with a laugh making Crow raise an eyebrow. This guy spoke differently to anyone he had met. Only Yusei's descriptions of Goodwin seemed to bear resemblance. As he pondered a new monster had been summoned. A second Kamikaze Chainsaw Warrior.

"Zalmez attack!" the trooper snatched the set card with its claw and slowly crushed it, briefly revealing Zayu the Black Feather monster before being destroyed.

"And now for the final curtain, kamikaze-" But he never made the attack.

Crow saw it just as he began to talk, he had been watching Crow and for some reason the D-Wheel auto Pilot had not responded properly. A boulder was ahead of him. Crow cried out to him and he noticed just in time, leaping off his bike to the side. The bike crumpled into it, the steel screeching in pain and the engine crackling dangerously. The Rider was different though. He flew out at speed, his bike sliding round the side with him in pieces; he bounced several times painfully, cries yelping from him, his head cracking against stones badly before he came to a stop, sliding a good 50 ft away.

?: 1700 (Counters 7)

C: 700 (Counters 7) Duel: No Result.

Crow's hologram turned off and his duel mode program stopped as he pulled over hurriedly beside the fallen and lifeless body of the guy. He ran over and rolled him over onto his back. His body was cut up and bones appeared to be broken in his arms as he turned him because he made a groaning noise but luckily he seemed mostly ok. The again everything could have been broken, he couldn't tell. His helmet visor was now smashed so his sea blue eyes were visible, pain in them.

"Guess I should have kept my eyes on the road." He commented quietly. "Damm computer, I knew I should have salvaged a new harddrive."

Crow, slid his helmet off, just in case any visor glass was pressing into his face. The appearance of him was contrasted greatly from Crow. He was around his age, maybe younger and was more smoothskined than he was, his brown hair down to his shoulders in away not messy but not tidy either. Most surprisingly there were no criminal marks.

"All that for some food aye?" chuckled the guy before dragging himself to his feet crow heaving him up, he flinched as he placed pressure on his left leg. Something had been damaged and he fell back onto his arse swaying in an almost delirious manner

"You wouldn't mind fetching my deck would you and the duffel bag seat?" He said in a distinctive English accent of the upper classes.

"Not a satellite boy I guess." Commented Crow s he did as he was asked. "I guess your bikes a goner and being the good guy I am I'm not going to leave you here."

"Thank you very much Crow." He accepted his things back.

"I could do with some favours." Smiled Crow, explaining himself. "I save you, you save me. Besides for some reason I feel bad about leaving you here."

"Touché then." Replied the boy with a wrist gesture.

"What's your name then?"

"Jacob." He replied slowly, his eyes beginning to glaze and a strange expression graced his face. "I'm sorry to be of trouble but I'm rather badly injured, alone here and I'm about to retreat in unconsciousness, be a chap and help me please." And then he fell back and blacked out on the floor. Leaving Crow to heave him onto the bike trailer resting on the load and to drive carefully back to the encampment.

"LUA! LUA!" Called the pigtailed girl from the living room to her identical twin upstairs.

"What is it? I'm about to go out and play with Tempei." Called down Lua as he presented himself from around a corner and slowly descended the stairs with a backpack slung on his shoulders.

"Mums on the phone!" Chirped his sister happily. A huge smile enveloped his face and he rushed down as quick as he could, jumping the last 4 steps. He ran over to where Luka was and they stood huddled around the house phone which had been placed on loudspeaker mode.

"Hi mum!" cried Lua happily down the phone.

"Hi sweetie." Came a pleasant female voice that was chuckling at her son's enthusiasm. "Now how are my lovely children keeping? I hope you haven't got into too much trouble while we've been away."

"Not really." Chuckled Lua nervously as he glanced at Luka. There had been plenty of trouble. Dark signers, terrorists in masks among other closer troubles. E.g. Lua still was wetting the bed occasionally.

"Are you sure? I saw the news and I just had to call, your fathers friends assured me everything was ok but-" She sounded worried but Luka cut her off suddenly.

"We're fine mummy." She assured her in her calm young tone.

"Are you sure you are?" They heard her mum take a breath. "Things are…a little less calm than we thought they'd be here. Your father's work has hit a bump in the road but it isn't anything that'll affect you much, I promise. Everything is and is going to be fine." Luka looked at Lua worriedly and he looked at her in the same vein. "_She's hiding something."_ They both thought in unison. She sounded strained and it was easy to tell she was putting on her optimism. Before Luka could stop him Lua asked the question he had been told never to ask.

"Mum what does dad do? Where are you?" He blurted. A silence fell on the line for a good few seconds.

"You shouldn't ask that Lua." She said slowly and deliberately, but not dangerously. "Somethings children are too innocent to know."

"I'm not a kid anymore! I'm a big boy!" he retorted loudly and proudly with a silly smile.

"A big boy who still wets the bed." Luka mumbled looking to the floor ever so slightly.

"Well…" Their mother went silent again. "I'm not going to tell you what your father does Lua, it's his choice to tell you or not. I suppose I can tell you where we are though."

"Where?" Asked the girl.

"We're in Vietnam at the moment, in the city of Sa-"As she had said this a new voice jolted from the background.

"What are you doing? What the hell are you doing!? DON'T say another word, don't you dare!" a raging mans voice from the background, now booming through their home and causing the twins to flinch. They knew exactly who it was. The authority and rough texture filling their ears with an anger they had heard previously but not commonly.

"Inagawa! It's the kids they just wanted to know where w-"

"I DON'T CARE! THIS IS MY BUSINESS! I CHOOSE WHEN THESE THINGS HAPPEN! YOU DON'T WANT THEM INVOLVED DO YOU? DO YOU!? Stupid bitch." A scuffling noise came through to them, after which the twins could hear their mother weeping gently. The next sentence was addressed to the two of them now in a dangerous tone of voice that they had grown to fear and respect over the years. Slow and patient and dangerous. "Luka, Lua… You're both old enough to know better. You NEVER ask those questions! NEVER! Understand?"

"Yes father." They sighed quietly.

"Good." A short silence followed and the only sound was their mother quietly sobbing and their father breathing down the speaker. "We'll see you soon. I promise. Just, stay away from us for the time being. You will learn to thank me in the end. ..I know you will. I'm sorry… Goodbye kids, I love you."

"Love you too." They replied one after another as the phone went dead in Vietnam

Akiza sat in the back of the car, her chin in her hand gazing out of the darkened window thoughtfully. Her father sat next to her while a chauffeur drove for them behind tinted and soundproofed screen in one of her fathers limos. Being a senator had its perks especially with such a generous and often controversial expenses system.

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence in the car which had lasted for the last 10 minutes or so although she hadn't really cared. It wasn't uncomfortable to her.

She was healing the rift between her father and herself but he still partially believed he could see her as the little girl that had run away still. She had changed into a new woman and that couldn't be overlooked and he had played his part in that, no matter what their relationship was like now. He shifted slightly and cleared his throat. "Your mother told me that you were thinking of moving out of your old room." She tilted her head slightly so he was in her eyeline.

"Are you thinking of getting your own place then soon?"

She sighed slightly. "Maybe."

Silence for a few more seconds. "Is there something you want to talk about? You seem abit…preoccupied." He asked lowly and caringly placing his hand on hers.

She grinned ever so slightly. "It's nothing really. It's just…I keep thinking about someone…having thoughts randomly of him...dreams."

Hideo Izayoi nodded. He believed he had a good accurate idea of who it was, the image of the coal and yellow haired young man making his way into his minds eye. He owed so much to him. He was decent, brave and honourable and even though deep down he knew he had little claim to it, he would be more than happy to give his daughter's hand to him someday.

"Why does Goodwin need us?" came Akiza's voice.

She had been called by her father and told that The Director had business concerning all the signers and Illiaster and funnily enough he had told her that he was deeply involved in the matter which made her question how political this so called 'cult' was becoming.

"mmm." Her father looked down at his feet and she saw confusion among other emotions in them. Guilt? Sorrow? Regret? "I…I did something that…I shouldn't have…It's complicated and I'm sorry The Director wants you involved."

"I'm sure I can forgive you papa." And she smiled at him to his joy. It wasn't often he saw the glimmers of his little girl in his daughter.

"Hopefully you will enjoy it…Yusei will be there after all, you can tell him about your dreams." He added with a small wink at the end to which she blushed abit, her composure briefly lost. Aki looked back out the window as her father chuckled. And she found herself thinking about him again. Someone she didn't think she should have been thinking about after all this time.

"Divine." She muttered with a slight narrowing of her eyes in thought.

When they arrived at the entrance to the cell division of the base and past the guard booths after a brief security search (Mostly on her father, she was left alone after she showed her birthmark) they strode down the narrow well lit hall and found themselves face to face with Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas and Director Rex Goodwin.

"Director, Sir." The ageing senator bowed in respect while Akiza gave a curt nod which he ignored, she was above needing to give privy to this man in her opinion. He may have been on their side and had 'led' them but she still remembered what he had ordered to happen to Bommer and his village. She gazed over at the other two who met her gaze in their silent and intense ways. Luka and her brother were not here but to be honest she was partially glad.

This place was not strictly legal and many 'bad' things happened here that shouldn't have. Children had no place here.

"Senator Izinski, thank you for returning so quickly, and thank you for coming Ms. Izinski." He glanced at her and met here stare briefly in his cold calculating way. "Now we can begin."

He walked down the hall silently and the others followed before they came to a large door at the very end which had two guards outside wielding submachine guns. They saluted as he approached and handed him a set of keys for the door. He inserted them but did not turn. He turned to them. "The person in here is of great interest to us signers." He spoke with an air of finality. "You are here not only so I can reveal to you why I am doing what I am doing immediately but so our guest can see first hand what he will be aiding. So he can see why he joined the wrong side and so he can see how he can make penance for his crimes. So he can have something good to die for to make it more beautiful to live."

Jack smirked and crossed his arms. "I believe we have met him. My fist has most certainly"

"But you have not known him which you will soon." He was about to turn the key when one of the guard spoke to him.

"Mr director ,sir, I must protest, the prisoner has made a jail break attempt while you were gone he came perilous close to killing and-" He was interrupted by a hand to the throat.

"I do as I do because I know I must and can." He said slowly and cruelly without much change in voice. "You apprehended the prisoner and you healed your man I believe. Yes I read the brief report. It was a minor controlled incident which you are blowing out of proportion. Never try to stop or preach to me again."

He let go and the guard withdrew, his pride hurt. Goodwin turned the key and they all strode in. Akiza took in the sight as the door closed behind her and she was locked in the baking hot room. In the middle of the room was a table with 3 seats which her father, Goodwin and Jack took leaving Yusei and her to stand. On the other side of this table was a guy with a black bag on his head and in dirty clothes that were crumpled and ripped in places, on closer inspection she saw he was chained to his chair, his hands sweating profusely and attached to one of his wrists was an IV tube filled with water. An orange glow bathed the room coming from great heaters that were nailed temporarily to the walls. Like being in a toaster. The guys deep tired breathing was the only sound for a short while. And then Goodwin reached over and pulled the bag of his head. Akiza's eyes widened very slightly. It was the boy she had met at the market. He stared at the floor, blinking as his eyes got used to he sudden light. The way this 'Blaare' guy looked at her when he finally stared around seemed rather too familiar for her, who was this guy? He settled on Jack and grinned

"Remember…me, Jack the lad?" he cocked his head and a big bit of sweat rolled off his face.

"I'm going to ask you a question to which only one answer sees you out of this facility." He said directly and roughly. "I want you to work with us."

Yusei and Jack and her looked at him, it was unexpected alright. But then again so was this.

Elsewhere in a location that will currently remain undisclosed, in a small abandoned office stood 3 guys. They were criminally marked, the lot and looked like the bottom of every pile of life. Indeed one of them had attempted suicide 4 times in the last 3 months. In the middle of the room was plain plastic desk and behind that on a revolving chair was Alias. His hat on the desk and his cane sitting in his crossed arms and he turned his chair back and forth.

"Uh-hmm." One of the guys cleared his throat, he stepped forward a bit. He had elected speaker by the rest of the men who were underneath this intimidating mystery man on the grounds that he was the most disliked but also the most forceful. Just in case their boss was a little stronger and more dangerous than they had anticipated.

"Boss." He stated simply. "W-"

"Correction." Interrupted the terrorist with a raised finger before pointing with it at all three of the present men. "You will begin by apologizing for interrupting me when I was about to leave for my home and will make sure this group session will be finished quickly. Now, what do you say now?"

"Uh...Yeah…Sorry for interrupting you sir…I hope this…meeting will end fast." He replied slowly, slightly unnerved. Something about this costumed weirdo freaked him out. Was it the voice changer? The clothes? The mask? No. he carried an aura, you could feel the cauldron of danger boiling in him when you addressed him. He was having second thoughts now but if he backed out he would probably not be popular at all with the others. "Me and the others have been thinking sir-"

"That's a funny thought." Laughed Alias. "Half of you numb nuts would need a pamphlet to know what you were doing with a girl, let alone make a coherent thought."

"Anyway sir… he continued, alitle irritated at the comment. "Me and the boys were wondering…when we were going to be paid. It's been weeks sir and all that planning for the building hit and the shooting-" Alias raised a hand. guy carried on though. "- and you promised payment would be regular and generous like a philanthropic hooker, in your own words! Well boss, I'm not going to work another day until we all get paid... and we want double!"

He added the last part in on the spot. He knew if he pulled this he would be a King for awhile, popularity he had never had would be his. Then he looked into the blank mask of Alias and saw his hands wringing the cane and knew he was in for a grilling.

"So…" He said slowly, his chair swinging 360 degrees now. "You come to me; after all I have done for you and your 'loved' ones to tell me to my face that I'm a fuckhead, a liar and that I'm going to get it if I don't give you dunces your, in the end, worthless green paper!"

The guy tried to interrupt to say sorry but no words came he was transfixed. Silence and the chair continued to turn as his Alias moved his foot along the floor slowly. He could feel his heart in his mouth as did the others. One of them was already contemplating suicide again, just in case.

"Bravo." Said the terrorist eventually. The three men blinked.

"What?" questioned one of the others in disbelief.

"You pulled my bluff gentleman." He said again now looking sat the wall away from them, chair turned away. "You will get all you deserve tonight and so will anyone else who dares to brave me."

"Thank You Mr Alia-"

"Gentleman Alias." He declared with finality.

"Thank you Gentleman Alias, Sir! Thank you! The medias so wrong about you sir! You're a real decent guy! A shiny copper in the wallet alright sir!" gasped the talker. Perhaps this guy wasn't so bad after all. Bad but not as bad. "Where do we go to get it sir, and when?"

"Now and here. All stand in a line please in front of my desk." He demanded to which they did. When they had stopped shuffling he turned his chair round, as quick as possible and all 3 of them fell to the floor, knowing at the last a flash and a cracking noise. Dead. Alias wiped the end of his cane with a handkerchief. Its end had been screwed off while he had been facing the wall and the handle had folded out to reveal a trigger and a chamber for a bullet which he kept in his pockets at all times. One bullet was all that was needed, straight through all their lined up heads. He found himself chuckling at the crazy way, to him, he had killed these men.

"What a bunch of idiots!" he barked in laughter as he got up and walked over to a cabinet, fishing within until he pulled out a dirty great machete. He stripped off his suit leaving him in his shirt and got to work as the blood leaked from the three mens heads onto the floor like a grizzly lake.

The next day all three were found, headless and ball-less in their homes along with the words "THEY ASKED FOR THEIR MONEY BEFORE PAYDAY" carved into their chests. Their heads were later found in footballs that were played with by children at schools, wrapped in the leather, a month or two later to horror of many a child and indeed adult.. Their own balls never turned up although there was a rumour that some strange looking pack of meatballs had been purchased in a supermarket. No one ever asked for their money again. Instead they sat and waited.


	8. Chapter 7: Freedom

**Chapter 7: Freedom**

"I'm going to ask you a question to which only one answer sees you out of this facility." He said directly and roughly. "I want you to work with us." Goodwin said simply.

"Not much of a question so much as a statement or command." Chaud replied smartly.

"Are you going to work with us or not?" Goodwin replied, his irritation subtle.

"What's in it for me? Other then ya know, freedom." Chaud asked.

"We'll make sure you remain sheltered, fed, protected." Goodwin responded without thought. Chaud sat there, acting like he was thinking. Akiza noticed that he wanted to free his hands to scratch the stubble of a beard that had grown on his face. After an uncomfortable thirty seconds he spoke again.

"What's the catch?"

"We're going to have you living with one of the people here. We need to make sure you won't go back to how you were."

"Ok, I'll go along with your little plan. On two conditions of my own. First; I want to go back to my own apartment. Second; she has to be my 'keeper' as you're so delicately trying to put it." Chaud said as he nodded to Akiza. "That work for you, miss?"

"Glad he's not bunking with me, least we know his 'preferences'." Jack sneered. Chaud shook the comment off and looked over to Akiza, she didn't look back, instead she seemed to look through him. She was considering the options; Yusei had yet to speak, though he looked like he was itching to interject. Before he missed the opportunity, he spoke up.

"Director, how are we so sure we can trust him? Especially with Akiza, she's..." he began but was cut short by a wave of Akiza's hand.

"I'm what Yusei? A girl? You think I can't handle living with a boy?"

"No, no it's not that. It's been confirmed he's dangerous, I don't think someone..." Yusei paused, trying to word this right to avoid offending Akiza. "Any of us should have to live with him."

"Well, I'll accept the responsibility of taking care of Chaud. Besides, we're psychics, practically related; it only seems fitting that I look after him." Chaud looked down and snickered.

"Excellent. Well Mr. Goodwin, I'll accept your offer. Now, if you'll unchain me, remove the IV drip and let me bathe I'll be more then happy to escort Akiza back to the shop. With the Senator's consent of course." he said quickly looking at his father. Senator Izinski half-looked-half-glared at the boy. Until a DNA test confirmed it there was no telling whether Chaud would be her brother or a rapist who would simply overpower his sweet little girl. Unfortunately, he had no other option.

"Very well." he said slowly.

"Thank you very much, Senator. Ms. Izinski, if I may speak with you for a moment." Goodwin ended the conference as he pulled Akiza aside. Chaud was taken away by the security guards. When the doors closed, Goodwin spoke. "Remember how he said you were to be his keeper? Well he was right, we need you to keep an unwavering eye on him. He's dangerous..."

"None of us are dangerous Goodwin, we were trained as soldiers, it could be all he knows is violence." Akiza interjected, boredom in her voice.

"You don't know him the way I do. He willfully murdered one of our own."

"Trace?! He was a pathetic zealot, he deserved what he got. He almost killed me once upon a time!" Akiza snapped back.

"Though his methods weren't the best he got done what he needed to get done." Goodwin replied in a prepared way. Akiza didn't take the time to hear anymore. She stormed out of the room before he could explain how she should keep her guard up, to her he would be speaking a foreign but all too familiar language.

After about a half hour Chaud had packed and bathed and was preparing to leave when Goodwin stopped him. In a quick movement a device that greatly resembled a watch was clasped onto the teenager's wrist. He stared at it stupidly for a second before he realized what it was. He noticed what appeared to be a GPS in Goodwin's other hand. "Shoulda known it wouldn't have been this easy..." he sighed.

"Now Chaud you know why I have to do this. You were deemed a threat to our organization and we can't have you just running around completly unchecked. Unfortunately you have no choice but to comply, I have the only key to that tracker." he replied slyly.

"Erg, fine, I just want to get my Runner and head home. Prepare for Akiza and what-not." Chaud shook off Goodwin's hand and continued on his way. He was led to a van where he was rechained to a seat and then taken to his apartment via an address provided by Goodwin. After an uncomfortably long hour he was back at the flower shop located directly below his apartment. The neon open sign was turned off. Chaud unlocked the door and proceeded up to his small three room apartment. The apartment itself was small; bedroom, living room, kitchen; a small bathroom was in the hallway between the living room and bedroom. The rooms were adequately furnished, Chaud's Aunt Kasi provided most of the furnishings despite Chaud's protests. He did however get enough money through various odd-jobs and long nights gambling, along with the income from the flower shop to buy a television. He brought his X-Box 360 from his room at the Arcadia Movement's HQ in America which is how he kept in touch with his friends. He siphoned his internet from the neighbors. He looked at the mess of a bedroom, clothes thrown everywhere, electronic equipment and various unidentifiable objects. He quickly set about cleaning up the messy room making sure it was clean for his guest. Within an hour he had changed the sheets on the bed and had everything put away, right before a knock at the door.

"Erm, hello." he said slowly. Akiza just gave a small wave. Chaud stood aside and let her in, he could tell she was already sizing up the apartment. "Umm, you'll be staying in my room right over here." he said quickly as he opened the door. She glanced around, unimpressed at the size of the room, it was rather small, the bed took up about a third of the room. "Sorry it's a little cramped, can only afford so much on a florists salary..." he said dumbly.

"No! No, it's fine." she said with a reassuring smile. He grinned back.

"Can I get you something to eat?" he offered.

"Sure, what do you have?" she said.

"Lemme see, off the top of my head I know I've got: ramen noodles, leftover pizza, and I think some regular pasta."

"Ramen noodles please." she replied as he finished the list. He nodded then went... well into the next room because every room is pretty much right next to each other. A few mechanical beeps could be heard then Chaud appeared with a duel disk in his hand.

"While we wait, duel me." he challenged. Akiza looked at him nervously then took her own duel disk out of one of her suit cases. They exited the apartment and stood in the street. Both duel disks activating simultaneously.

(Akiza's LP: 4000) (Chaud's LP: 4000)

"Ladies first. Go Akiza." Chaud surrendered the first turn.

"Why thank you. I draw! I'll start with three cards face down and a set monster. I end my turn."

"Hmmm... Now I know you use a similar strategy to Audrey post the Movement's crumbling... but what's that monster... I'll find out now with my monster; Hai-ile the Frozen Behemoth (3/1600/900)!" a wyvern rippled out of the pavement and spread its shining white wings menacingly. "His effect states that if I attack a monster who has a greater dominant stat I can choose to end my battle phase and place a Frost Counter on that monster. I'll attack your facedown now!" Hai-ile launched itself at the facedown monster which flipped face up revealing a giant wall of man-eating plants. The monster instantly turned blue to show its field status.

"You rammed Hedge Guard (3/0/2100), however your dragon's effect cancelled the attack so you won't have to worry about your life points." Akiza noted as the wyvern back peddled with its wings and landed on Chaud's field. It then opened its mouth and began to blow gusts of arctic wind down onto the hedge, wilting some of the leaves and causing a layer of frost to appear on it.

"Heh-heh, I figured it was a wall. Regardless, I'll set one card and end 'er there. Go."

"Draw! I release my Hedge Guard to summon Rose Tentacles (6/2200/1200) and it'll attack your Behemoth! Because I'm attacking his effect isn't applied." tentacles sprung from the ground, they pulled a rose that looked suspiciously like an octopus head along with them. The tentacles wrapped themselves around Hai-ile who tried futilely to fly away. Once the dragon exploded one of the tentacles slammed down on Chaud. Akiza gasped at the sight, had she lost control of her abilities again? Chaud looked on with a smirk completely unscathed.

(Chaud's LP: 3400)

"Who told you I liked being whipped?" he joked. Akiza made an "ew" face. "No sense of humor... Oh well. I take that lack of movement as an end to your turn. So I'm going now. I'll activate my face down card Frost Snap! This places a Frost Counter on all of your face up monsters that don't have any on them, then summons Ice Attribute monsters from my graveyard equal to the number of monsters with Frost Counters on your side of the field. You've been waiting for it; the one, the only...!"

"Are you going to do this everytime you special summon a monster? This kid Lua does it and it's so annoying. Cute kid, annoying dueling mannerisms." she sighed. Chaud kept talking.

"Hai-ile, the Frozen Behemoth (3/1600/900)!" the white wyvern reappeard in a gust of wind and snow. "Next I'll summon Sl-eat, the Frozen Behemoth (4/Tuner/1600/900)!" a light bule version of Hai-ile formed from the moisture in the air. It was almost completely identical to its icy brother except for the pattern of its scales looked like falling water. "Then I'll activate my spell card Cold Front." the hologram of the card depicted a weather map with a blue line moving across it across northeastern America. "This cards effect lets me sacrifice my battle phase in order to inflict half of the attack points of one of your monsters that has a Frost Counter on it to you as damage." he said with a swift air punch. In an instent the temperature dropped along with Akiza's Life Point meter.

(Akiza's LP: 2900)

Chaud's eyes widened in horror as he felt the temperature drop. He dropped to his knees and prayed his ability wouldn't do any real damage to Akiza. Akiza shivered and hugged her arms to herself, she was never really dressed to handle the cold. Before too long however the cold subsided and Chaud continued his move. "Ah... One face down, end."

"I draw!" _Those Frozen Behemoths probably have some effect that benefits from having them both out at once. I should probably remove them from the field before he tries to pull off his combo. _"I summon Copy Plant (1/Tuner/0/0)." A tangle of roots with glowing green eyes sprouted from the ground. It glared in an unnatural way at the American duelist who shrank back a little. "I now tune my Copy Plant to my Rose Tentacles to Synchro Summon Black Rose Dragon (7/2400/1000)!" she called out. Copy Plant wrapped itself around the plant octopus and began to glow. In a flash the two disappeared and were replaced by a giant black and red dragon. The back parts were covered with thorns and the red parts looked like rose petals. "I'll activate Black Rose Dragon's first effect and..."

"Like hell you will! Activate face down: Ice Block! This trap card negates an opposing monster's effect and places a Frost Counter on it. Furthermore any monsters with Frost Counters on them have their effects negated for the remainder of the turn." he chuckled.

"Then I'll attack your sleet dragon with Black Rose Dragon!" Akiza ordered as her dragon sprang to life. Thorned vines shot out from its body and wrapped themselves around Sl-eat. The wyvern was dwarfed in comparison to the dragon and was instantly crushed. It hung limply for a second before turning into water and splashing on the pavement. "Two cards face down, and I equip Black Rose Dragon with Thorn of Malice giving it six hundred more attack points. (7/3000/1000)"

(Chaud's LP: 2600)

"He-he, now the fun can really begin!" Chaud gestured to the water with a sneer. Hai-ile began to glow and shrink in size. The puddle of water began to ripple, suddenly Sl-eat reemerged in a glorious splash and sparkle of the water. "Sl-eat's effect states that if Hai-ile is on the field when he gets destroyed I can cut both mosters' attack points in half to keep them around. (3/800/900) (4/Tuner/800/900) It's my turn, and I'll tune my two Behemoths together!" Chaud held his arms up as Sl-eat burst into four stars which circled around Hai-ile. Hai-ile began to grow; his head became broader, two additional limbs grew from his torso, his skin darkened to a navy color. "Prepare yourself! Behold my greatest Frozen Monster! Frozen Titan..." the navy dragon roared, seemingly distorting the air itself. Its mouth was lined with two rows of razor sharp fangs. "Win-Tear (7/2700/1700)!" Black Rose Dragon roared a challenge at the new monster which replied with a roar of its own. Two titans prepared for a duel to the death. "Win-Tear's effect states that as long as I have only Frozen Behemoth's in my graveyard he can't be killed in combat. Furthermore for every Frozen Behemoth in my graveyard he gains one hundred attack points! (7/2900/1700)"

"I see where this is going! Activate trap: Ingrain! When this card is activated I can choose one of my plant monsters or Black Rose Dragon and make it immune to battle destruction for the remainder of the duel!" she responded.

"Umm... ok? Anyway! I activate Precious Cards Encased in Ice; this card's effect states that I can discard two Ice attribute monsters to draw two cards! I'll pitch another copy of both Sl-eat and Hai-ile, then take my two cards. Oh these are nice! I'll activate Inside the Winter Storm! It'll place one frost counter on one of your monsters for each of its level stars. I count seven on Black Rose, so it goes up to eight counters!" (7/3100/1700) More of Black Rose Dragon's petals wilted, to which it paid no mind. It merely sat there looking at the Frozen Titan. There was however a significant drop in the temperature. As Chaud watched Akiza shiver he began to reconsider letting the duel continue. "Hey, umm... how about we just call it a game? It's getting cold out here and..."

"No! You wanted to duel, we're gonna duel. Besides, it's interesting dueling someone new. So make your move already!"

"Right, Frozen Titan attacks Black Rose Dragon!" Chaud pointed at the opposing dragon. His dragon charged it, ramming it in the chest with its massive head.

(Akiza's LP: 2800)

A cold wind whipped up quickly and then died away as the energy from the beasts colliding was released; the players hair and clothes were blown backwards dramatically. When the wind died down Akiza took the opportunity to make her move. "I draw! Now I'm going to have Black Rose attack your Titan!" Black Rose Dragon roared as its sinister black vines wrapped themselves around the Titan.

(Akiza's LP: 2700)

"What for? Win-Tear has more points! You're just taking damage!" Chaud shouted as Win-Tear bit down on the vines around its arms causing Black Rose Dragon to screech in pain.

"Thorn of Malice's effect! If I attack one of your monsters with the monster it's equipped to then that monster loses six hundred attack points! And that decrease is permanent!" she shouted over her dragon's screeches. Sure as she had spoken it, a giant thorn stuck into Win-Tear's arm and it caused him to shrink. (7/2500/1700)

"Uh-oh!"

"'Uh-oh' is correct! Now your monster is going to be a much softer target!" Akiza grinned wickedly. Chaud looked on with a helpless feeling.

"Erm, ok then! My turn! Ugh, this isn't good... I suppose I'll switch my Titan to defense mode and save me some damage." Chaud said as the parts of Win-Tear that weren't already blue turned to blue to show the change in field status. "I end..."

"Big mistake! Black Rose, attack his weakened Titan!" Black Rose Dragon seemed to grin with wicked delight as it took flight and kicked at the Frozen Titan.

(Chaud's LP: 1300) (7/1900/1700)

"Crap! I'm not safe anywhere! Well he's going back into attack mode to say the least! Umm... One card face down and that'll do it for me." Chaud said defeatedly. Akiza took her next move.

"I'll activate Poisonous Flowers of The Ancient Tree and equip it to my Black Rose Dragon; it gives one plant type or Black Rose Dragon and extra one thousand points of attack power! (7/4000/1000) Now attack his Titan and end this duel!" When she declared teh attack Chaud's face down card flipped up.

"Ice Barrier, cancels any life point damage." he said simply. His Titan still took the point hit though, a third thorn stuck into its back. (7/1300/1700)

"Fine then, my turn ends here." Akiza gestured. Chaud drew, holding his breath.

"This duel ends now! I summon Frozen Hatchling Blyz-hard (2/1000/2000)!" a tiny dragonling appeared from the shadow of the Titan. It squeeked in an attempt to roar ferciously. "His effect is a nasty one. If he's on the field and in attack mode I can siphon off the attack points of one monster you control and add them to one of my own monster's attack points. The only stipulation is that the selected monster must have Frost Counters on it. Your Black Rose Dragon should work just fine for this, he now loses all four thousand of his attack points and my Titan now gains them all! (7/0/1000) (7/5300/1700) Now for one last part, if I attack with the monster that gained all of those attack points you only take half of the battle damage from this battle phase. So go Blyz-hard, attack Black Rose Dragon!" the infant dragon blew a small blue flame at Black Rose Dragon which merely blinked as the flames made contact.

(Akiza's LP: 2200)

"Frozen Titan for the game!" Chaud roard as he punched the air. With a roar a strong arctic wind blew towards Akiza who threw her hand up, cutting through the wind to protect herself, snow blinding both duelists. Chaud had already abandoned the thrill of the win to make sure Akiza wasn't in danger. When the snow cleared she was laying on the ground, her skin paler then he recalled. He picked her up a little and gave her a quick shake. "Hey, you awake?" he said gently. Her eyes snapped open and she began to shiver.

"The hell... What was that?" she asked. Chaud shook his head and led her back into the apartment. When they were inside he sat her down and wrapped her in a blanket, pushing a warm bowl of noodles in front of her. She slowly ate them, taking the time to let her body warm up again. "Was that your...?"

"For the most part, that's why they had me in that super-heated room. I'm really sorry, no control..." he said simply, he left out anger as a controling mechanism.

"You mean you just tried to kill me?"

"Well, in a normal situation it would have" "But you survived. Fascinating."

"Why didn't you end the duel if you knew that?!" she yelled to which Chaud shrank back, away from the reach of her arms.

"But you survived. Fascinating."

"Yeah, I saved myself with my abilitiy. I suppose... It's ok, you said you had no self-control and I guess I'll trust you. And don't apologize, it's who you are." she reassured. He grinned at the sentiment. Growing up he was never told that. He was told to be a war machine, and sadly that's what he is. A frail war machine.

"Ummm... You like music? I got some stuff here on the three-sixty, lemme just find something here... " he said as he selected the randomize finction, a dramatic guitar rift began. Akiza squinted at the television screen.

"Does that say nymphomaniac?" she asked, an edge of concern in her voice. Chaud's intent glare turned into a look of surprize, red seeping into his tan and yellow cheeks.

"No! No... You know what, I need to check the news." he said quickly as he flipped back to the news channel. When he found the station a news announcement filled the screen.

"Another attack was made today against famed lawyer Carmine Blackthorn. He told our reporters that he was headed back to his hotel room when a man in a black mask appeared from an alley and lunged at him. The assailant managed to cut Blackthorn's left cheek with what he described as a ballistic knife, the blade of which the assailant fired soon after the attack began and proceded to break the lawyer's nose in several places, all non fatal. No other information was available. Blackthorn himself is famed for handling all legal affairs for the World Oganization's Arcadia Academy, a school that trained children and adults with psychic abilities to control their 'talents'."

"That what they called it?" Chaud asked in disbelief. Akiza shrugged.

"In a related topic the trial..." the screen cut to black. A sinister chuckle, made less threatening via voice changer, came from the television. The picture then changed to that of the white mask with the broken glass design. A close-up of the Gentleman.

"Like phase two of my plan? Or is it still phase one? I'm no good with plans... Regardless; as you can see, my strategy for a better world requires some drastic measures. Sadly by the end of this the world will be out of about half of its people. Since I know you'll never catch me-alive-I'll tell you now, I plan on killing... everyone! Lawyers! Scientists! Politicians! All of them merely shit on the shoes of a perfect world!" the camera backed up and then panned him slowly, he was standing in a perfectly black room with a single spot light on him. "I regret that the lawyer lived to tell of his experience, but I will see to it that there is no more talk of his little accident." he cackled. "Now you may be sitting at home in fear, praying to your deities that the boogeyman won't claim your souls. Rest assured... If you don't stand against me... he won't. Well I've wasted enough of my time. You probably have episodes of your precious soaps being interrupted." and with a lift of his hat the screen returned to normal. The newscast just briefly interrupted.

"In other news; student and suspected computer hacker, Hideki Nando, was found missing from his residence in the central district earlier this morning. Security is currently following a lead, but no details have been released. More on this and the Blackthorn case as they develop."

"Wow, just what I need, another wicked terrorist gunning for me... us." he said with a look at Akiza.

"You think this Gentleman Alias is after us? The psychics?" she asked. A bite of fear in her voice.

"Why else would he pick those three specific types of people to mention? Scientists made many of us like this, politicians defend us to pull votes, and lawyers make sure we aren't discriminated against." he shot back, a hint of irritation creeping into his voice.

"You're paranoid." she replied without emotion.

"Whatever, you'll never get it. I'm going out." he said as he slipped a blue vest on over his white shirt.

"Where?" she asked suddenly.

"Out." he said quickly, suddenly vicious. Akiza decided not to question any further. He left silently. Akiza immediately began to look through her bags, when she re-entered the living room she had a tracker in her hand. She watched it carefully as a blue dot moved across a grid of what she knew was Neo Domino, the dot headed toward the Satellite and stopped in front of an unlisted address. She immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed up a number quickly. After a few rings she began to speak.

"Yusei? Akiza, listen we need to get down to the bridge now. Chaud just left, and when I asked he got all mysterious and vicious. We need to check this out. No we don't need to get Jack involved."

**A half hour later**

Akiza and Yusei tracked Chaud down to a warehouse. Now it wasn't the fact that he was there that made no sense, heavy bass vibrations and loud techno music almost literally shook the building. When they entered they found themselves in a giant dance party. Bright colored lights flashed, and teenagers were dancing in a fairly normal way. The way they dressed was a cause of concern, however; nobody wore clothes conventionally (black fishnet shirts over green undershirts etc.), they wore sunglasses in the dark, and they all had pacifiers in their mouths. This being said it became very easy to find Chaud, he was dancing with an impressive number of girls, and looked like the only normal person there. Akiza pushed her way through the crowd to the American's position. When she got to him she was stopped by a guy whose hair was styled to look like the wind was blowing against his right side. His huge sunglasses made a mirror though which Akiza could perfectly see her face. "Want one?" he said as he held up what looked like a pile of small round mints. She looked over to Chaud who quickly shook his head. She declined his offer, to which he merely shrugged.

"What did he just offer me?"

"Extasy, helps one feel the PLUR." he explained.

"PLUR? Wait, why the hell are you at a rave?" she began her interrogation.

"Why do you care?"

"Becasue Goodwin appointed me to watch you!" she yelled.

"Ok, chill, do you want me to go home?"

"No, you can stay, just tell me these things first." she said in an all-business way.

"Fine. I'll be home in a few hours." he said calmly. Akiza just gave him a pointed look and left with Yusei in tow. Yusei signed to Chaud that he'd be watching him before he left with Akiza. Chaud ignored it and contiued to dance.

"The freak's back again." a cruel voice cut through the music, Chaud was definately meant to hear it and whipped around on the spot grabbing the first person he saw by the front of his shirt.

"What'd you say?!" he barked. The person was the same person who offered Akiza the drugs.

"You heard me, freak! I don't want your kind around these parts! Only thing you've been useful for is keeping the room cool." the guy spat back. Chaud lost control and began to freeze everything he was touching. He didn't realize however until the guy's shirt froze and shattered in his grip. As the guy hit the ground Chaud roared in anger, but as quickly as he lost control he reconsructed his rational thought and ripped a syringe from his pocket. He stabbed the needle into his arm and sent the calming fluid into his veins. He then sprinted, knocking everyone in his way to the side, to his Duel Runner. In an instant he was recklessly driving the complicated streets of the Neo Domino, making his way back to his apartment. When he finally got through the door, an hour later, he was completely broken down and was shouting uninteligible words and groaning in pain. Akiza, who was watching a movie with Yusei jolted upright in alarm as the bluenet collapsed on his floor, shaking uncontrolably.

"Is he alright?!" Yusei said as he jumped up.

"I don't know! He never revealed much about himself... Other then he listens to songs about nymphos..." she said the last part quietly. Yusei looked at the writhing boy on the floor then to Akiza. "Long story, help me put him on the couch." she shouted as the two pulled the shaking boy onto the couch.

"I'm a monster! They made me this! I don't deserve it...!" he yelled as he was overcome with hyperventilation.

"Chaud, stay with me! Calm down! Tell me what happened." Akiza tried to sound soothing, but Chaud still shook violently, and no inteligible words were spoken. His eyes snapped shut and in moments he had slipped into unconsciousness.


	9. Chapter 8: A Sudden Challenge

_**Chapter 8: Sudden Challenge**_

Hayate closed the door behind him and drew himself onto the chair seated in front of the small table. He reached into his jacket coat and removed his notebook and pen, flipping it open, ready to take notes. "Evening." Drowned Blackthorn from opposite the table. Hayate nodded in recognition. His eyes dashed to his notebook.

"You can confirm you name is Carmine Blackthorn before I begin questioning?"

The lawyer chuckled. "Whada you think?"

"That wasn't the question was it sir." The commandant retorted without looking up, pen ready.

Silence rubbed the air momentarily before Blackthorn nodded. Tick. Commandant Hayate looked up, taking in his interviewees features. His normally clean face was covered on his left side by gauze, covering the likely scar that would appear upon his visage after his attack. Hayate had little true sympathy for the man, Blackthorn had a history of squeezing individuals linked to the Arcadia Movement out of tight cases who were unofficial guilty of all charges and more. He was a fantastic lawyer, he would not deny that, but he was wildly unpopular with the Investigative Branch for it. When he got going in a court he was like a freight train. Especially against the administration for crimes against defendants whether human rights or 'torture cases held together by seemingly irreverent info only he could string together and yet convince a jury with.

"Can you identify the man?" He knew the answer already, everyone did due to his attack being sniffed by a news station before his testament to the police but it was necessary and there were usually things that the press didn't get to report. For the next 20 minutes he recalled the event and Hayate asked various questions. Few had worthwhile answers that would aid capture. "Ok Mr Blackthorn last question. Do you have ay enemy-" He stopped and sighed, signing the book.

"You knew that officer." Blackthorn grinned a half grin, his smile hidden. "I'm a goddamm lawyer. The leech of society." Hayate nodded and got up to leave. Blackthorn did too. Grabbing his arm.

"Here, you get first glimpse for free." Before Hayate could stop him he pulled the gauze off. His face had a broad cut mark along his left face from ear to edge of mouth making it look like some kind of feral snarl. Caked blood over the skin. "Does it add to the threatening persona? I'm thinking of foregoing plastic surgery."

Hayate said nothing. "Good day Mr Blackthorn." In the lawyers eyes a glint of emotion flashed shortly. Satisfaction? Fear? Anger?

"Good day officer. Just remember, one slip up in this thing and I own your department's ass…again." The Commandant left the room with a feeling of unease. Something was wrong with the vent. It didn't seem right.

"_And that wound."_ He thought. "_Why was he so eager to show me. He always comes across as a vain arsehole when I meet him. It's almost like he was trying to validate it. As if maybe he is trying to pass off something like…a lie."_

**SATELLITE- Dawn**

Crow swallowed his porridge with a slight grimace. It was stale but edible, a by-product of days left in a hold of a dank ship. He set the bowel down on his table and took some steps toward the window. The glass was gone leaving just curtains that shivered as the day was born. The sunrise burning the landscape and painting the clouds and sky. He stared upward at the Daedalus Bridge. A symbol of everything his life was striving for. The symbol that no matter who you were, you could be great and respected. Like the man who began the bridge that fateful day, years ago. Turning from the window he entered a small room toward the back of the shelled out home. Lying on an old creaky mattress was the guy he had duelled the day before. He was still in his clothes although Crow had tied up the odd wound that looked as if it would go septic. He'd be sore when he woke, he could promise that.

"Who are you?" He asked no one in particular.

"Jacob." The unexpected reply was uttered from the lying teen. His left eye opened. "I told you remember."

Crow blinked. "You have a surname?"

"Yes."

Crow sighed. He was playing it tricky which obviously meant he was either someone who shouldn't be here or a prick. He favoured the latter. "And it is?"

He paused for a few seconds, mulling it over. "Grint."

"Jacob Grint." Crow repeated. The name seemed different yet strangely familiar from somewhere and he was sure he had seen his face as well. Jacob went to sit up and grimaced in obvious pain before letting himself fall back onto the mattress. He tired again slower this time. His face twisted somewhat as he pulled himself onto his feet, exhaling heavily when he arrived upright.

"Whoa." He chuckled. "I'm sore." Crow turned his back to him for a moment and leaned into the next room, he grabbed a bowel of porridge on the side he had prepared before and handed it to the teen. "Thanks." He replied, clutching the spoon and slurping it into his mouth.

As he ate he walked over to the window and examined his surroundings. Daedalus Bridge, the encampment, the bay to Neo Domino which was barely visible from here.

"Where you from? Your obviously not a local." Asked Crow making his way next to his guest.

"Britain." Said Jacob after finishing a mouthful. "Accent does give it away a little."

"Hm." Grunted Crow, he didn't like being corrected over these sort of ,he noticed this was not the average Briton. It was an upper class one. People like the ones in Neo Domino who looked down on Satellite. It wasn't only the accent that gave it away but the way he carried himself, the body language. A deepest aura of dignity and privilege. Of course after the British Revolution everything had changed. Crow wondered whether perhaps he was housing a refugee.

"Do you have my belongings by the way?" Asked the Briton earnestly.

"Yeah…" He headed over to a small battered closet and opened it revealing the duffel bag that had been entrusted to him and the deck sitting upon it. Jacob approached and retrieved it and placed it on a harness under his jacket where an empty deck box was revealed. 2 other full boxes sat showing 3 decks in all on that side.

"How many decks you have?" asked Crow, crossing his arms.

"Six. It reduces the risk of counter decks." Explained Jacob as he rubbed his side before continuing with his porridge. "3 are riding decks and 3 ground duels. Basically same decks minus speed spell. I'd imagine you probably do the same." Crow nodded. It was a trick of the trade since D-Wheels turned up. Idea being you had just a good a grasp with one as the other.

"I'd imagine my Bike is dead now." Stated Jacob to which Crow nodded.

"Couldn't salvage it. Got back to steal some stuff and others had already been there." Explained the orange haired guy.

"I admire your honesty. Seems I'm stranded for a short while then." They stood in silence for a short while.

"What are you doing here?" Crow posed the big question. Jacobs posture tightened instantly and he slowly turned away, placing his bowel on a ledge. He stared out across the waters in silence for awhile.

"Wandering." He finally said. "Just…Travelling far from home." Crow decided not to ask why, he understood. Now. He was a refugee. Still he couldn't get the familiarity out of his head.

Yusei opened the door and headed across the room to the heavyset desk, surrounded on all sides by panoramic views of the city. The Directors office although built with aesthetic in mind was also built to withstand missile attack and could withstand substantial amounts of radiation before leaking in. Director of the Dominion (As is his official title) Rex Goodwin sat behind the desk shifting through papers, looking up when he saw Yusei approach. It was an unannounced visit but he didn't seem disturbed. Yusei felt the familiar sense of dislike summon up inside him. He had no place in his heart for Rex Goodwin. The man, who had ordered the deaths of Bommers family, had manipulated so many and who had oppressed the satellite people. Yet he could still admire his resolve and efficiency no matter how cold. Goodwin knew how to play people as Yusei knew from experience. He had to be wary for that but also acceptant of his position and role in his life.

"Yusei Fudo." He said simply as he reached opposite the desk, the island of Satellite just visible from this distance and height, a plume of smoke and a dark body of rubble and steel. Behind Yusei was the rubble of another zone, the conference centre where a certain terrorist had launched an insurrection against the holy. Alias already had a global jihad on him now, Goodwin had barely lifted a hand so far except a rushed statement. "I did not expect you here today. What can I do for you then?"

"I need to know something." He replied coolly, meeting his eyes with a stare. He wouldn't be intimidated. Rex motioned for him to continue. "Who controls the Criminal marker Tracking System?"

Rex looked at him for awhile before leaning back in his seat. His eyes bearing down on him, searching for weakness. "I do. Me and Commissioner Jaeger."

He tilted his head slightly. "But I suspect you want a more detailed description of procedure."

Yusei narrowed his eyes. "Someone found me. On the Satellite, said he could find me anywhere. He wasn't bluffing."

"You know this?"

"I felt it." Countered Yusei. He trusted his instincts with his life and they had saved him so many times that he rarely doubted his gut feeling. "I need to know whether the system-"

"Is compromised." Finished Goodwin. He looked out of the window to his left, in thought although Yusei had a feeling that it wasn't over his enquiry. "The system can only be added to by street level officers; it has 6 separate firewalls so hacking is out of the question. Not accessed without authorization from me or Jaeger."

"That's too impractical. "Said Yusei. "Law enforcement needs case files. If its locked up the system would fail."

"High enough investigative officers may access partial files excluding location and other key components." Goodwin was speaking smoothly and almost patronizingly. He grinned ever so slightly which made Yusei feel a sense of anger rise in him. "Your details are perfectly safe, Yusei Fudo, with me."

"I'm no criminal. Why should you still keep them?" Asked Yusei knowing the answer.

"I like to know where my…colleagues, are. Besides like I said beforehand. It's a one way system. Add or view alone." In essence; Goodwin wanted to play Big brother. "Did that answer your q-." But Yusei had already entered the elevator and was proceeding back to ground zero.

In the elevator Yusei exhaled. He didn't feel secure with the explanation and no way would Rex allow him to see the system itself in order to manually check its security. He had hit a dead end and had a bad feeling a wolf was just around the corner, ready to pounce.

Jack drove down the highway at high speed. His mind focused partially on the road and partially on his upcoming duel. He had been challenged a few weeks earlier and in a weeks time he would be facing his opponent. He had a very good record although despite this jack felt confident in victory. He had already planned a victory speech and a little bike stunt at the end. He was currently riding home from the Ylliaster HQ where he had been training. The place had a very smart AI duel program and although Jack found victory in the end he had to work for it. He stared straight, wrapped in his won thoughts. From behind he did not hear his follower. Another D-Wheel, this one orange and of similar design to Saiga's was closing in, skimming between traffic skilfully. The rider was in full leather riding gear with a black helmet that covered the face leaving only the small green eyes to squint out at the white design of Jacks. "Jack Atlas." He stated in a surprisingly high pitched voice. "Lets get this on." He pressed a button on the side of his bike and 4 steel orbs folded out of his back at the front and sides and back, flashing. He pressed a second button, initiating Speed World. His auto pilot took over. He then proceeded to draw 5 cards fro his deck. "Lets duel." He said simply pressing a final button.

Jack looked around his bike in confusion as speed world activated on his Duel Runner. "I didn't activate this!" He cried in surprise, glancing over for any damage to his hull. Had he hit something and damaged the computer system? Had the chip snapped off?

"Jack Atlas, duel me now!" He turned to see an orange bike and a black clad rider pull up beside him.

"How did you activate my Speed World?" demanded Jack haughtily.

"My boss knows stuff." He said almost proudly. He threw an arm out and pointed at him. "Duel me Atlas, duel me and prove your worth as Future King."

Jack frowned. He didn't duel just anyone, he was better than that. But this guy had done something to his bike. "What if I refuse?"

"My hack will erase all duelling capabilities; it will cost a lot to repair." He laughed. "It's also time consuming, which means you will forfeit the match next week if you do quit. How embarrassing." As his opponent laughed Jack sighed and reluctantly drew 5 cards. He didn't want to do this. "You will regret this! Behold the power of a future king!" He snapped the sixth card from his deck.

Rider: 4000 (1)

Jack: 4000 (1)

"Set two facedown spell or trap cards." He declared loudly with confidence, he then slapped another card down. "Normal summon Twin Breaker (4/1600/1000)."

The samurai esque bladed warrior appeared with a cry and swish of its blades. "End turn." Stated Jack.

"Draw card!" the rider spoke slowly and examined the text of his new card carefully.

Rider: 4000 (2)

Jack: 4000 (2)

The rider set a monster card facedown silently as well as a spell or trap. "End turn."

Jack narrowed his eyes and drew. "That kind of weakness will not get you anywhere."

Rider: 4000 (3)

Jack: 4000 (3)

Jack slapped a new monster into play. "Summon, Power Supplier (2/400/400)!" A mage of sorts clad in purple robes with a staff took place next to twin breaker.

"Next I will declare the attack of Twin Breaker upon your set monster! Go!" The ninja bladed warrior launched itself toward the holographic card representation and pierced its side with a slice, briefly exposing a strange orange tube like creature with flailing limbs.

The rider lifted it. "Flip effect activates now! Worm Apocalypse (1/300/200) destroys a spell or trap on the field." He pointed at one of Jacks which exploded briefly revealing Half or Stop trap card. Jack laughed however.

"Twin breaker has a piercing damage effect and can attack again after battling a defence mode monster!" He chuckled arrogantly as the LP change took place.

Rider: 2600 (2)

Jack: 4000 (3)

Twin Breaker lined itself up and planted a sharp blow across the rider who cried out.

Rider: 500 (0)

Jack: 4000 (3)

"500 life points!?" shouted Jacks opponent incredulously. Jack snorted.

"Power Supplier can once per turn target a monster of mine and grant it 400 attack points more until the end phase." He explained. He hadn't used it immediately for fear of his enemies trap or spell, which was a bluff it seemed. "Now Power Supplier your turn!" The spellcastor aimed its staff and fired a bolt of Magic. It burst into the riders face painfully.

Rider: 100 (0)

Jack: 4000 (3)

"End turn." Jack grinned. "Are you regretting challenging me now?"

The rider did not answer. He drew.

Rider: 100 (1)

Jack: 4000 (4)

"_This duel has to last longer."_ He willed himself. He thought he could easily play his opponent down but 3900 LP damage in a turn was making him reconsider.

"_I can't give up. Not with her waiting for me."_ He thought of his sweetheart in hospital, all those tubes in her. The accusing faces of her relatives. The hospital bills. And finally the offer by letter… He looked at his new card and almost laughed. Success when he needed it.

"Summon, Worm Tentacles (4/1700/700)." A large octopus like thing materialized with a golden bulbous 'head'. "Activate Tentacles effect, by removing a reptile type worm in the grave from play for this turn he can attack twice."

He removed Worm Apocalypse swiftly into his inner pocket and the Octopus threw an arm each at both of Jacks monsters, they entombed the two humanoids in fleshy chains before being crushed to death with much pain.

Rider: 100 (1)

Jack: 2600 (3)

"I set another card and end turn." Declared the rider proudly of his small comeback.

Jack drew his next card eager to fight back.

Rider: 100 (2)

Jack: 2600 (4)

"I activate my set trap card." The card flipped revealing a graveyard with a sinister purple smog erupting from the ground. "Call of The Haunted revives in attack position Power Supplier!" The card expelled the smoke seen on the front and formed the spell castor. The rider frowned.

"Why not Twin Breaker?" he asked.

Jack ignored him. "Activate Speed Spell-Summon Speeder! When I have 4 or more speed counters I can special summon a level 4 or lower monster from my hand. I pick Dark Resonator (3/1300/300)."

The diminutive demon stood resolutely with its small tuning fork beside Power Supplier. The Rider shuffled on his bike nervously. He didn't like where this was going.

"Normal Summon, Magic hole Golem (3/? /2000)." The stony figure made its way next to the duo. Its central body nothing but a gaping hole as the name implied. "Synchro Summon!" laughed Jack in supreme tones. "Dark Resonator go!" The tuner struck its fork and the sound waves quickly enveloped the field, drawing in Jack's monsters, forming a great starry mass. When the light dissipated a thunderous roar announced the arrival of Jack's signature monster.

"Red Dragon Archfiend (8/3000/2000) come to the aid of your master!" The hellish red and black horned dragon circled the highway snarling the whole time. The rider stared in awe.

"So this is Red Dragon Archfiend ." He was quickly snapped back to reality by a siren like noise from his duel runner. He looked it over. The metallic orbs were sparking with electricity. The readout read OVERLOAD! On Jack's side he suddenly felt a throbbing pain in his arm, he looked down and saw his Dragon Birthmark glowing angrily. Red Dragon Archfiend was also crying out in rage.

"What the..?" Jack gripped his arm and gritted his teeth. "My birthmark." Suddenly just as it had begun it subsided. Jack stared at it for a short while and shifted his eyes round to his opponent. "Was that him?" He wondered aloud. Nevertheless he decided to continue his move. "Archfiend, attack Worm Tentacles!" The great dragon prepared a fiery punch and dived down at the octopus at great speed.

"Negate Attack activate!" The familiar card blocked the advance of Jack's dragon and ended his battle phase.

"Card set and end turn." Jack did as he said. He knew next turn he could easily win. The rider snapped a card. He only had to last until his next turn and he could walk away with what he needed.

Rider: 100 (3)

Jack: 2600 (5)

"I move Worm Tentacles to defence mode and set another monster, I end my turn there." The new monster appeared and Jack laughed.

"You will pay for challenging me with this pitiful strategy!" He snapped a card proudly into his hand.

Rider: 100 (4)

Jack: 2600 (6)

Jack looked at the newest card in his hand. He would do this in style. "Activate Speed Spell-Over Boost!"

His Duel Runner suddenly unexpectedly accelerated ahead. "This card adds 4 more counters to my total as long as it is reduced to 1 this end phase."

Rider: 100 (4)

Jack: 2600 (10)

"Finally Speed Spell-End of Storm!" the card flipped round and the rider gulped loudly.

"I'm not going to do it!" he whimpered in anguish as his defeat faced him. All the monsters in play suddenly set alight and roars and screams of pain echoed around. "That card destroys all monsters. And then the players lose 300 lp for each of theirs destroyed! I'm dead in the water!"

As the last cinders of all the creatures blew away the last LP changes took effect.

Rider: 0 (4)

Jack: 2300 (10)

"Duel End." The words were quietly spoken by Jack. He turned to confront his foe when out of the blue the rider turned off into an exit road, Jack zoomed past it at a rate that meant turning and trying to catch up would never work. He hit the side of his seat in frustration. Still at least he had a win to calm himself with, no matter how easy.

The rider rolled along the road crying tears of sorrow. He had blown it. She would die now. It was all his fault. The world turned into one big blur as he accelerated faster and faster. There was nothing he could do. He imagined his boss examining the data he collected and the disgust at his premature loss.

"Why carry on." He whimpered in self pity. She would not want him by her side and her relatives would certainly not. He would just end it now. He would wait for her on the other side, so she would not be alone when she left this world. So with one huge effort he twisted the steering mechanism and with a sickening impact of glass and metal on the concrete wall he knew no more.

Alias sat over the laptop, he analysed the data sent by his quick hire henchman, his word for anyone he temporarily brought into his circle. In reality in the end they were all quick hires but he decided that secret was better kept for their cooperation. He looked over the information with a chuckle. It was better than expected.

The guy had played terribly but for some reason Jack Atlas had summoned his Ace card. It was beyond expectation. The man's ego had landed him where Alias wanted him quicker than if he had dragged him there at gunpoint. There had been no need for the turn limit after the dragon was summoned.

He sighed and leant back, talking to himself. "Now I got to find the bastard and pay him; not sure whether with money or death…yeah…death definitely death. More fun."


	10. Chapter 9: The Third Scout

**Chapter 9: The Third Scout**

It was a typical day in the Tops for Lua and Luka; studies in the morning and then they were left alone for the remainder of the afternoon. Normally they'd pass the time by playing video games or reading, but somehow today was... different. Today they both decided to head down to the Daimon and catch a few street duels. Neither of them had much experience in the Daimon other then when Lua went on his wild hunts for the Black Rose Witch who he later learned was Akiza. After learning her identity he gave up on the pursuit, the thrill of the hunt diminished. Today, the Daimon was full of duelists, as it normally is. However instead of duels going on there was a giant circle around two combatants. One had two Berserk Gorillas and a face down the other was defenseless. The duelist with the Gorillas was a slender brown haired young woman who had a bandana tied up to keep her shoulder length hair back. She also wore skin tight black jeans and a vest which she kept zipped up just enough to show a decent amount of clevage. A pair of sunglasses were perched on the bridge of her nose to hide her eyes.

"My Gorillas attack you for the win!" she called out in a clearly latin accent as both Gorillas pounded on their chest and spat flames at the other duelist stumbled back into the crowd. "Next!" she said sarcastically. She then spotted the twins in the crowd and pointed over to them. "You two! Up here. Now." she said in an intimidating manner. Lua shrunk back for a moment before pulling himslef together. He and Luka both made their way to the middle of the circle and stood facing her.

**Chaud's Apartment**

Goodwin stood in the flowershop located directly below Chaud's apartment and rang the buzzer. A few moments later Chaud appeared in the doorway leading upstairs. "Can I help you with... Oh, it's you, Director. What do you need?"

"A sample of your blood Chaud, an untainted sample." he replied. He produced a sterile needle from a canister and handed it to the boy.

"Don't I need a medical professional to...?" he tried to start in with sarcasm, but a pointed glare from Goodwin changed his mind. He rolled up his sleeve, stuck the needle into his vein and extracted a decent sample. "_God I hate doing this, it's just like those damned urine samples, I never know if I gave enough... Oh well, if this isn't enough then he can go jump off a cliff..._" "Uh... Here ya go; fresh batch for ya."

"Thank you. Oh and if I may ask, how do you keep these plants looking so healthy? Seems to me someone of _your..._ unique nature would have trouble." he asked in a would be conversational manner, Chaud laughed.

"Old family secret... Actually... I have no clue, Audrey did most of the 'work' I just watered 'em. If that'll be all I must leave now, Akiza asked me to pick up these kids in the Tops and bring em over to Yusei's... Lua and Luka I think she said... Anyway, I have to leave, I bid you good day, Director."

**Back in the Daimon**

"Now which one of you is supposed to be the Signer?" she asked as she pointed between the two.

"I... I a..." Luka began

"If you wanna find out you'll have to duel us!" Lua cut in.

"Very well, we'll play standard two-on-one rules. I'll begin with eight-thousand and you two will have four thousand each."

"Agreed!" exclaimed Lua.

(Duelist: 8000)(Lua: 4000)(Luka: 4000)

"I'll start." Luka announced. "And I'll summon my Sunlight Unicorn (4/1800/1000) in attack mode!" a white unicorn with blue fire for a tail and mane galloped from the card onto the field. It snorted and stamped its hooves at the opponent who smirked cockily. "Three cards face down and that'll end my turn."

"Then it's my move. And I'll summon my Beast Striker (4/1850/400)," a weird looking gorilla weilding a massive hammer appeared on the field. It grinned wickedly and growled. "And I'll use his effect to discard my Berserk Gorilla to special summon Moja (1/100/100), one card face down and that'll wrap her up." a weird black fur ball with a creepy yellow face appeared, it had a nasty toothy grin and shiny brown eyes.

"Alright, my move. I start with the spell Double Summon to allow me two summons this turn! I'll use that to summon out my Morphtronic Celfon (1/100/100) in attack mode and Morphtronic Boomboxen (4/1200/400) in defense mode!" a yellow cell phone roughly the size of the tiny duelist appeared and then transformed into a humanoid looking robot. A red boombox also faded into existance, but it soon turned blue to show defense status.

"That's not all, I use Celfon's ability, a random number appears on his dial and I get to look at that many cards off the top of my deck. If any of those cards are Morphtronic monsters I can special summon one of them. So let's go! Dial on!" he yelled as he spun his arm in a wide circle. The key pad on Celfon's chest began to light up and quickly change between the six digits, the result was a two.

"Excellent, now I look at the top two cards of my deck," he said as he picked up the top two cards of his deck. "Well lookie here, one of the cards was Morphtronic Datatron, I'll summon him in attack mode (3/1200/600)!" a flash drive materialized, arms and legs sprung from its sides and the cap lifted revealing glowing yellow eyes. "Next I'll use his effect to sacrifice Celfon to inflict six hundred points of damage!" Lua exclaimed as his Celfon dissolved into granules of light which Datatron absorbed. The cap flipped all the way up and a jet of fire blazed across the arena, hitting the woman full on. (Duelist: 7400)

"This seems like a good time." the woman said as she pressed a button on her duel disk. Soon after, a red Security Style Duel Runner with a chrome trim rolled up behind her and four metal orbs mounted on the dash began to whir with life. "Hmmm... Why didn't I do this before, it certainly would've weeded out the Signer... Oh well, my move! Hehehe! I just drew one of my key monsters. Moja will now evolve..." Moja's face twisted as his body began to grow, four skeletal legs sprouted from his body as he continued to grow. A towering monster soon stood behind the duelist.

"I special summon King of the Beasts (7/2500/800)!" the monster made an unholy screeching noise; Lua, Luka and Sunlight Unicorn all cringed; Lua's Morphtronics all shorted temporarily. "Now I use my King of the Beasts to attack Morphtronic Datatron!" the giant black monster lifted itself onto its skeletal legs and charged across the field.

"Not so fast! Boomboxen's defense mode effect lets me negate one of your attacks!" Lua yelled over the monster's screeches. Boomboxen emitted a blast of sound that stopped the monster from charging. It turned around and returned to its original position.

"Fine then! Beast Striker attacks Boomboxen!" the gorilla lifed its axe and jumped into the air; before it landed on Boomboxen, Luka revealed her facedown. The picture showed one purple tube with an in arrow and another with an out. A purple tube caught the monster, flipped around then fired the still raging beast back at its owner. It slashed her with his axe, then shook its head as if breaking mind control and returned to his place on the field. (Duelist: 5550) "That does it."

"Then it's my move again. I draw! Next I activate my face down; Jar of Greed, this lets me draw another card." she drew another card from the top of her deck and inspected it carefully. "Next I summon the Tuner monster Sunny Pixie (1/300/400) in defense mode!" a small fairy like creature floated from the card and landed on Luka's shoulder, it was no bigger then the girl's hand. "I switch my Sunlight Unicorn to defense mode and end my turn."

"My go again! I summon Berserk Gorilla (4/2000/1000)!" a giant red ape charged from the card and rested next to Beast Striker, snorting in anger. "Next I use my Spell card Wild Nature's Release on my King. His attack now gets an increase from his defense. (3300/800) And my facedown card Beast Ambush will allow him to attack directly so long as my target's monsters have fewer combined attack points. He'll attack you little girl!" King of the Beasts rose to his skeletal feet again and charged past Luka's monsters swiping directly at her with his claws. She flinched as the disgusting bone forelimb swiped. (Luka: 700)

"Now, because I used Beast Ambush I can't attack anymore, and because it's my End Phase Wild Nature should destroy my King. However I activate Beast Soul Swap and return King of the Beasts to my hand and let me swap him out for another level seven. I pick Behemoth the King of All Animals (7/2700/1500)!" a giant purple beast tore its way out of King of the Beasts. It had a thick purple mane, scars going down its body, and a mouth full of pointed fangs. It roared, making everyone draw back in fright.

"Alright my turn! I summon Moprhtronic Remoten (Tuner/3/300/1200) in attack mode!" a small, standard television remote blinked onto the field, it had delicate wires for arms and legs. "Now I tune together my Remoten and Boomboxen!" Lua's two monsters exploded into stars and flew into the air. The sound of an engine starting then rang out and a metal dragon with a blue claw and a red jackhammer attached to its body descended from the sky.

"I summon Power Tool Dragon (7/2300/2500)! Now for his effect! I can choose three equip spells from my deck and have you pick one random one; however I'm picking three of my Double Tool C&D so I'll just add one of them to my hand." he showed his three cards to the opponent and added one to his hand, the rest got shuffled into his deck. "I now equip Power Tool with my equip spell, and during my turn it increases his attack score by one thousand points! (3300/2500) Attack Beast Striker!" he called out. A green drill replaced the blue claw and Power Tool took off across the field. It punched the drill straight into Beast Striker's chest; it groaned in pain before exploding into shards. (Duelist: 4100) "One card face down and I end my turn." As Lua ended his turn the green drill transformed into a red buzz-saw

"I draw." the duelist looked over the cards in her hand. "So, Power Tool's attack points are twenty-three hundred again?" she asked. Lua nodded. "Excellent, I'll have Berserk Gorilla attack Sunny Pixie to knock the girl out!" Berserk Gorilla charged a ball of energy in its mouth, when it went to fire it turned toward Power Tool however and shot it at the dragon who spun around and batted it back into the gorilla with its tail. (Duelist: 3800) "What? What happened?!" she demanded. Lua chuckled.

"Double Tool's effect states that when it's your turn you can only attack Power Tool, too bad for your monkey." he grinned.

"Fine! I attack Power Tool Dragon with my King!" the purple Behemoth charged across the field and rammed Power Tool Dragon in its mechanical chest, the only thing that disappeared was the saw which changed back into the blue claw. (Lua: 3700) The steel orbs whirred louder, causing Luka to cringe in pain and clutch her arm. The other duelist didn't see it though, she was too busy glaring at Lua who was celebrating the defeat of her most powerful monster. "I activate Monster Reborn! As you two both know, I can summon one monster from either graveyard." a card removed itself from her graveyard. "I revive King of the Beasts!" the purple animal roared as it reappeared in a flash of light. "That ends my turn."

"Draw!" Luka announced. "I summon Dreamsprite (2/300/200)!" a blue creature that resembled Sunny Pixie appeared. It floated gracefully around Luka. "I tune my three monsters together!" all three of Luna's monsters exploded into stars and began to spin around each other. When they stopped a blue dragon with big fairy wings floated in their place. "I synchro summon Ancient Fairy Dragon (7/2100/3000) in defense mode!" Luka announced. The orbs pulsed again and the screen on her duel runner began to flash with the word overload. The dueling scout looked over to her duel runner, then back to Luka, a smirk on her face.

"I've got all I need here, I can finish this duel. Now..." she started, but cut her sentence short when she saw a familiar head of raven-spiked blue hair moving through the crowd. She forfeited the match, hopped on her duel runner and sped off before the person got to the kids.

(Duelist: 0 (Forfeit)) (Lua:3700) (Luka: 700)

"You two Lua and Luka Horikiri?" he asked. The twins stepped back a bit. "Don't worry, Akiza sent me to bring you two over to Yusei's. Name's Chaud." he said as he extended his hand. Neither twin accepted it but they decided to go with the stranger, trusting him only because he claimed he knew Akiza and Yusei. A silent, and very tense fifteen minutes passed before they arrived at Yusei's apartment. Yusei opened the door, half surprized by Chaud's appearence.

"Hey kids, you go in and make yourselves at home, I need to speak with Chaud for a minute." he said calmly.

"He's your friend? Oh I'm sorry Chaud! Nice meeting you, and I like your duel runner!" Lua said as he followed his sister into the apartment. Yusei closed the door and just stared at Chaud. The duelists just stood there in awkward silence.

"You been staying out of trouble?" he asked finally.

"Yeah, you?"

"This whole business with these scouts is bugging me, but yes." Yusei replied.

"Well, they haven't done anything wrong yet, I say we give them some time and see if they make a big move." Chaud suggested.

"Good point." Yusei agreed.

"All I'm saying is we don't know what's going on. Oh and by the way, Akiza told me about what happened the otehr night, I'm real sorry you had to see that."

"Yeah, what was that about?" Yusei asked. Chaud rolled up his sleeve showing Yusei the marks from where he stuck himself with the needles.

"I'm a recovering drug addict. What you saw was a combination of the drug and symptoms of withdrawl." Chaud said keeping to a casual tone.

"Well... here's to a speedy recovery." Yusei replied.

"Here here." Chaud said with a smirk. Yusei opened the door and let him in. Akiza was already there, wating for them.

"Yusei, another scout appeared, she challenged the twins." she said with a bit of concern. Chaud thought for a moment before he moved around her and went over to the twins.

"Lua, Luka, what did this woman look like? I didn't get to get a good look at her before she ran off."

"Well," Luka started. "She had brown hair, tan skin. She wore a red vest, sunglasses and a bandanna." Chaud held up his hand.

"Was she Spanish? Like did she look like she was from Spain?" Chaud asked. Lua nodded. "I hoped it wouldn't be... Akiza, if you go back to the apartment, don't expect me to be back." Chaud said solemnly. He made a move for the door.

"Where are you going?" Akiza asked.

"I gotta go look up an old friend. Wish me luck." and with a single movement he was gone, the door closed behind him. He exited the apartment complex and took out his cell phone. He pressed a single button on the dial and plugged a head piece into his ear. "Bass, listen I don't have much time to talk. I found Marie." the resluting shout was heard even though the speaker was pointed into Chaud's ear.

"YOU WHAT?!"

"I found her, she's apparently working the scout business trying to find the people called The Signers. According to a witness she went after two little kids in the Daimon area of Neo Domino. I'm going to try finding her. Any suggestions?" Chaud listened intently while his friend relayed his advice. "Alright then, I'm off." Chaud mounted his Duel Runner and with a rev of the engines he was off.

Days passed, Chaud had searched the city at least a dozen times. Every night he came home too tired to speak and every morning he was gone before the sun rose. When he finally did decide to take a break he came home to find a note on the door from Akiza;

Chaud,

Goodwin wants to have a word with us, he's sending a car for you tomorrow morning.

-Akiza

P.S. I'm staying with Yusei for the evening, don't wait up.

"_How sweet... She cared enough to leave a note_," then he reread the postscript, "_Staying with _Yusei_?!_" and suddenly his mind got flooded with images of Akiza and Yusei doing naughty things and for some reason it involved the cord for the wii-remote nunchuck attachment and whipped cream. With a shudder he forced the image out of his mind. He flopped onto the couch and was soon asleep.

A beam of sunlight streaming through the window woke Chaud up the next morning. With a groan he rubbed his eyes and stretched. After breakfast, a few pieces of toast with some jelly on them, he went outside and waited for the car; the wait wasn't long, the car pulled up a few minutes after he had left.

Chaud was lead to a conference room, when he walked in he saw Akiza and her father, Yusei, Jack and Luka and Lua. Soon after he had seated himself at the end of the table next to Yusei (and as far away from Jack as he could get) Goodwin entered the room carrying a manilla envelope. He sat himself at the opposite end from Chaud and addressed the assembly. "I'm glad you were able to make it today," he said, "I have a few small announcments; first and foremost, Mr. Blaare I have a little job for you. It concerns the recent string of... Scouts. I want you to do some research and see if you can identify any of them. You'll have access to the Neo Domino security files for this task."

"Alright," Chaud said with a wave of his hand, "but I think I can give you a name before this even begins. An old acquaintance, Marie Valdano; according to the kids she challenged them to a duel similar to the ones that Jack and Yusei were involved in. She apparently also fled once Luka summoned her Ancient Fairy Dragon."

"Excellent headway Chaud, we can track her if..."

"She has no tracking marks, Director, she was always smart enough not to get caught."

"Very well... Second, this Gentleman Alias has me throughly concerned. Though we haven't been able to track him down, our intelligence tells us he will be making a move on his own very soon. We will need to capture him before he can do any more damage to our city. Understood?" Goodwin asked. Everyone nodded in understanding. "Finally, I would like to speak with Chaud and the Izinskis alone, the rest of you are free to go." Goodwin gestured to the door. Yusei gave Akiza one final look before he left the room. Jack soon followed, then the twins. "Chaud, a few days ago I asked you for a blood sample. I'm certain you know what it was for. Just to clear it up though... Have you two...?" he pointed between Chaud and Akiza.

"Been living together? Yeah you arranged..." Chaud began but realized what the Director meant, at the same time as Akiza.

"NO!" they both shouted. Hideo let out a sigh of relief. Chaud looked over to him, horror etched into his face.

"That's good then, because I have the results of the DNA testing. I'd like to give you the results now." Goodwin posed. Chaud nodded. Goodwin opened the envelope and removed a sheet of paper, his eyes quickly scanned it for the line he was looking for. "Senator," he said. He paused for effect, very similar to the way a talk show host waits before dropping a bombshell. "You are the father! Congratulations!" Goodwin said with a small, polite smile. Akiza's eyes widened, Hideo's face seemed to melt a little bit. Chaud had no reaction, he had known all along.

"You're... My brother?" Akiza asked as she turned to Chaud who still had a vacant look on his face.

"Half, we have different mothers." he replied automatically. Akiza looked up at her father, shock on her face. She quickly stood up and left the room.

"Well, I'll leave you alone then, Chaud you start tomorrow." Goodwin said before he stood and left the room.

The revelation came over Hideo in waves. He was confused. He racked his brains trying to remember what had happened. Before he could ask Chaud for the whole story, he left. Chaud had already gone back to his apartment. He needed to track down Marie.


End file.
